The Hikari Brothers' Vacation
by Zoram Selrof
Summary: Sequel to Hitch Riding is Dangerous. A person of trust has personally invited the Hikari twins to his Barcelona villa to enjoy a vacation there. However, some people want to take profit of their absence to put forward a machination of unknown scale and reach. But there are sufficient and competent Operators and Net Navis to counter them which they didn't take into account...
1. Chapter 1: Departure

**The Hikari Brothers' Vacation**

**By Zoram Selrof**

**Chapter 1: Departure**

19:08 PM (Japan Time), Friday July the 21st, 2010…

"… What nerves! I can't stand still!"

"As expected of Netto – kun… As hyperactive as always."

"Oi, oi…"

"Heh, heh, heh. I like teasing you."

"Man."

Hikari Netto and Saito were sitting in their house's living room sofa while being fully dressed and carrying their backpacks: two wheeled suitcases were placed close by while Yuuichirou and Haruka were sitting in the adjacent sofa: dusk was starting to fall outside of the house.

"We're so glad you got invited to such a magnificent trip. We're sure that you'll enjoy it." Haruka told them.

"It'll be Saito's first "real" overseas trip, too." Yuuichirou smiled.

"Yeah. Last time around I had to travel as Rock Man EXE to the Ameroupe Official Meeting regarding "Gospel"… But, since this time around, Denpa – san will be coming with us, then there'll be no trouble… Expect for Netto – kun's glutton instincts, though…" Saito grinned.

"Man. That's outdated, Saito – niisan!" Netto protested.

"Who knows?" Saito joked.

"Mr. Universe does." Netto grinned.

"Oho. Then he must be hidden behind the Great Wall of Choina…"

"Very funny." Netto looked skeptical.

"Heh, heh, heh."

The entrance bell rang, so Yuuichirou headed over there and checked it out.

"Oh! Ijuuin – kun. What a surprise!"

"It has been a while, Hikari – hakase… Eh… Are they at home?"

"Correct. Come in."

"I apologize for the intrusion."

Ijuuin Enzan stepped into the room in his usual manner: he lifted an eyebrow upon seeing the suitcases and Haruka giggled.

"Are you travelling somewhere?" Enzan asked.

"Yeah! To Barcelona!" Netto grinned.

"Barcelona, huh… I was there once… before the WWW sprung into action, though… Nice place." Enzan looked slightly amused.

"Who is coming with you two?" Blues asked.

"Denpa – san is! He invited us 'cause he has a villa close to Barcelona which he thought it'd come in handy!" Netto grinned.

"Oh… That sounds intriguing." Enzan looked amused.

"Was there something you wanted to talk with them, Ijuuin – kun?"

"Ah! True, true… I'm going to join an operation in Cyber City: some suspicious activities have been detected there and the Net Police wants to get to the bottom of them. Zero, Akashi, Delta, Blues and I will take part on it. I wanted to know why you two hadn't been called but now I see the reason… Fine. At least you two won't steal me the glory this time around, I'd say." Enzan grinned.

"Typical of ya, Enzan." Netto chuckled.

"Yeah. Blues will tell those guys they're slower than a turtle."

"Of course." Blues smiled.

"I'm glad you get along in a nice manner." Haruka smiled.

"Beware of Troll-F's ceaseless trolls." Netto warned.

"Forte, huh… Well. I'd rather have him joke around than still try to take out anything which gets on his way…" Enzan muttered.

"Enzan – sama. Mail, sir."

"Lemme guess: Forte sent it."

"Correct, sir."

"So?"

"… "The eighteen bells of prelude rang out. Better find a shelter before the next eighteen bells ring out 'cause then Ms. Moon will tell ya guys you're fired." … It sounds lame, sir."

"No wonder… According to Delta, that's ripped off the _Legend of Zelda_ game _Mujura's Mask_…" Saito giggled.

"A rip-off, huh… Whatever. Something tells me he'll come up with something along with the "Chaser Club"… Those guys are the ones who tipped us off regarding the activities in and around Cyber City…"

"Speaking of Cyber City… I think that the world fair which was going to be hosted there will open next week. Maybe I'll drop by and have a look at it because I'm slightly picked… I did give the Mayor a program which should expand the capabilities of their Network's data traffic and prevent a collapse of it, too…" Yuuichirou brought up.

"The world fair… True, Copy Roids were originally designed to be used in that world fair, but some fell into bad hands… Luckily, we've destroyed all existing models and blueprints copies to make sure no – one can abuse of them." Blues recalled.

"So? When does the flight leave?" Enzan asked.

"10:30 PM! Denpa – san is now coming to pick us up to go to Densan Airport." Netto grinned.

"I'd rather say we're going to be visited by the wandering wanderer of ways…" Saito improvised.

The entrance bell rang again and Yuuichirou headed over there to check who'd come: he opened the door.

"I apologize for my delay. I had said 19:15 but it's already 19:25… I shall offer no apologies, sir." Someone told Yuuichirou.

"Don't mind it, Denpa – san. Please come in."

"I apologize for the intrusion."

A man on his 20s stepped in: he had brown short and combed hair while he was clean shaven.

He had reading glasses on and his eyes' irises were colored brown.

He looked about a meter and eighty tall.

He currently wore a grayish t-shirt with the words "WEST POINT Established 1802" drawn into it plus navy blue jeans, white socks and black sneakers.

He also sported a black USB device hanging from his neck using a red cloth string.

"Good evening, Denpa – san!" The twins greeted.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Oh. Mr. Ijuuin… It's been a while." The man replied with a smile.

"True, Mr. Denpa… Was this your own personal idea?"

"Correct! I am in a vacation and I thought these gentlemen would enjoy coming with me: they would want to have an exciting summer and I can provide it. We'll be overseas for three weeks."

"Good. I'll be going back because I gotta start my investigation on what's going on over at Cyber City… See you and enjoy the trip. Maybe I'll tell you if I stumble upon anything interesting along the way." Enzan told them with a smile.

"Take care, Blues." Saito encouraged.

"I know how to do that." Blues smiled.

"Try to be a bit sociable with Akashi – kun, Mr. Ijuuin. He needs some support to cast his doubts."

"I'll try."

"Well then… Should we get going, gentlemen? We have a long flight ahead of us… 12 hours non-stop until Paris, and, from there, another flight of about 2 hours towards Barcelona… " Mr. Denpa suggested.

"O. K.! Papa! Mama! We're going!" Both told them.

"Take care!"

"Have fun." Enzan grinned.

"We'll guard the fort." Blues reassured them.

The six of them exited outside: a black Honda FR-V model was parked next to the house and a man on his thirties having brown military-haircut-hair was standing next to the driver's door: he wore a black suit with a navy blue tie, pants, shoes, a black hat and sunglasses.

"Agent Mori. Is all ready?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"Yes, sir. If you'd load the luggage in the trunk…"

He walked over to the trunk and opened it: Netto and Saito stored both their suitcases and backpacks inside of it before Agent Mori closed it.

"Oi! Enzan. Call us when ya feel lonely." Netto invited.

"Sure. Deal, Hikari Jr. But I guess this investigation won't be boring." Enzan grinned.

"It'll be as hot as the Sahara, then." Saito joked.

"It wouldn't surprise me." Blues admitted.

"I'd say Mr. Forte will sneak up and paint those Navis in pink so that they can be easily recognized." Mr. Denpa smiled.

"Oho. Terrific." Netto laughed.

"_Bye-bye_!"

07:18 AM (Barcelona Time), Saturday July the 22nd…

"… Saito – kun. Netto – kun. Wake up. We're just ten minutes away and you don't want to miss the final approach."

"Uh-unh… Good morning, Denpa – san…"

"Man… I feel sleepy…"

"You won't feel so much when we land. Heh, heh, heh…"

Netto and Saito yawned: they stretched and rubbed their eyes as they looked around: they were seated on a row of three seats adjacent to one of the left-side windows past the north edge of the left wing: Mr. Denpa was sitting next to the window, Netto was on the middle and Saito was next to the corridor: sunlight came in through the window.

"Have a good look!" Mr. Denpa told them.

Both looked towards the window and gasped: the whole city skyline was visible as the plane maneuvered over the Mediterranean Sea: both looked awed at the sight.

"W-whoa! What a sight…! It was worth the waking up!" Netto exclaimed with obvious surprise.

"True…! There are few tall buildings… And that mountain range over there looks green and clean…! That gigantic tower atop the mountain is imposing, too…!" Saito gasped.

"This is Barcelona, gentlemen! You can't grasp the charm of it if you don't have this first contact with it like this."

"Whoa… I don't mind anymore that we landed at Paris around 3:30 AM and had to wait until 5:45 AM for this plane to take off… This makes the whole trip worth it!" Netto exclaimed.

"I guess you dreamed about Paella Man." Saito joked.

"Very funny!"

"Heh, heh, heh. I'm clever."

"Ladies and gentlemen… Please fasten your seatbelts. We'll be landing in Barcelona's El Prat International Airport in a few minutes' time…" The captain commanded through the speakers.

The three of them quickly plucked them and brought the seats back at the standing position while storing away the shelves: the lights inside of the plane were turned on as well while the plane began to aim for the airport and cut down height.

"I feel tense…!" Saito muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe Tension Man strikes back?" Netto joked.

"Jeez! Netto – kun. Let's not start the Nickname War."

The plane flied over a river and suddenly touched down: it quickly cut speed and began to slow down until it entered taxiing mode: a round of clapping rang out through the cabin.

"Ladies and gentlemen: welcome to Barcelona. The current time is 07:39 AM and the temperature is 25 Celsius… We'll be docking in a few more minutes so please remained seated and please do not switch on any electronic devices…" The captain instructed.

"So, is anyone gonna come say "hi" to us?" Netto asked.

"Agent On Air came here a week in advance. He's checked that everything is in order and will drive us to the house before he heads back with the bus to the city." Mr. Denpa told them.

"Ah! True, true… On Air – san is Denpa – san's secretary, is he not?"

"Correct! He is a nice person, as you may have checked."

"How much time…?" Netto began.

"From the airport to the house, you mean? Hmmm… About 30 minutes and I doubt finding heavy traffic at such an early hour."

"Good! I now feel ready to tackle anything!"

Saito formed a smile and looked like he was up to something…

09:02 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Phew! Going through passport control again was one thing, but having to wait for the luggage was… Eternal!"

"This is how airports work like, Netto – kun."

"I knew that! I also had to wait a while back when my trip to Ameroupe, so…! I'd forgotten!"

"It's strange for you to forget things, Netto – kun."

"I get the irony."

"Ah. There he is… Follow me!"

The twins were talking as they stepped out of the luggage pick-up area and into the main lobby of the "T1" building: Mr. Denpa spotted a man on his 40s wearing attire similar to Agent Mori but having a square-like jaw and black hair under the hat: he was holding a cardboard piece with the names "Mr. Denpa & Hikari Brothers" written on it.

"On Air! Good to see you. All's ready?" Mr. Denpa asked as they met up with him.

"Yes, sir. The car is at the parking, so if you'd follow me…" The man saluted and then signaled the north.

"Good. Let's go."

The twins followed the two adults while they looked around the gigantic lobby out of curiosity: they stepped out into a corridor and picked right to then exit into a parking floor: they walked across it until they reached a blue Honda CR-V car parked there.

"Please let me handle the luggage, gentlemen."

"Thank you very much."

"Thanks."

On Air loaded the luggage into the trunk to then climb into the driver's seat: he ignited the engine.

"Let us go!" Mr. Denpa commanded.

"Roger, sir."

The car descended some floors and exited the parking to then join the expressways and travel across them.

"Say… What's the name of the village?" Netto asked from the seat behind Mr. Denpa's.

"Vallirana! It's about 20~30 km from Barcelona… Given how an important regional road crosses it, there's a lot of heavy traffic which passes through it…" Mr. Denpa replied with a grin.

"E~h… How many people live there?"

"Well… If you include the adjacent urbanized areas… Around 14.000 persons… But the central village itself has about 4.300 inhabitants… It's not that big of a village… And, like most of this territory, it dates as far as the middle ages… It used to be a "fashionable" vacation village but fell out of fashion time ago…" Mr. Denpa explained.

"Barcelona itself was founded by the Romans, right?" Saito asked.

"It's been generally established that there may have been an existing Iberian village but the Romans expanded it… Back then, though, Tarragona was the capital city of the peninsula and Barcelona didn't "rise" in rank until many centuries later…" Mr. Denpa replied.

"Setting that for later… My instinct tells me there's gonna be a good meal today." Netto grinned.

"Gluttony – chan strikes back…" Saito giggled.

"Man. That sounds… Dunno. Doesn't sound good, though."

"Ask Mr. Wikipedia for the exact definition."

"I get the irony."

"So it'd seem."

Mr. Denpa chuckled at their jokes…

09:43 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Good. We've entered the municipal term and we're now going to climb up towards the house… This road is the "Main Street" as well which splits the village in two… Don't be surprised by the sound of the heavy traffic or traffic jams which happen very often…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Traffic Man will stop you if you go over the speed limit, Netto – kun!" Saito blinked him the right.

"But I can't drive!" Netto argued.

"But you can run."

"Ah. So that's how it is about!"

"Deduction – sama strikes from the right-wing side?" Saito asked.

"Yeah. And from the left-wing side, too."

The car climbed up a slightly steep road for two to three minutes before turning towards the left: the twins were engrossed in their mutual pranks and were distracted: Mr. Denpa looked at them using the rearview mirror and looked amused.

"Then I'll use the backdoor: the _perfect_ escape route."

"I dunno who patented that motto."

"Ask Snake." Saito suggested.

"Snake… Solid Snake: that guy who Hiro looks up to?"

"Gentlemen! We are about to arrive: please save your _debacle_ on the status of the facility for later." Mr. Denpa called out with a hint of amusement to his voice.

"That sounded like sarcasm…" Netto muttered.

"Cheer up! We're finally here!" Saito grinned.

"We have arrived." On Air announced.

The twins gasped and looked towards the left…


	2. Chapter 2: Villa

**Chapter 2: Villa**

09:51 AM (Barcelona Time), Saturday July the 22nd…

"… Whoa~!"

"Cool!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Welcome to Sant Antoni Street!"

"I shall bring the luggage down, sir."

The twins quickly climbed down and looked above the wall in front of them to glance at the house: the wall itself was covered with vegetation thus hiding its composition and giving it a more "natural" feeling.

What was visible of the house was west side of second floor plus the west side of the first floor: the second floor was built as wooden triangle with two chimney exits built atop it plus a set of three windows placed near the south end of it.

The first floor wall had a window with apparently rotation-capable glass panels and it was colored white.

Attached to the south end of the house was a concrete platform with a large movable metal door allowing access from the street.

The entrance door was set slightly past the main body of the house and it consisted on one piece of blackish metal having a central body with spiral-shell-like branches emerging from it: given how it wasn't completely solid, there were holes which allowed one to look through it and into the perimeter garden: two cubical lights with metal frame and white glasses were set atop the main door.

"Wow. That door is the most unique door I've ever seen!" Netto whistled in surprise.

"No wonder! Things like this are hardly produced anymore nowadays: it's a relic of the 70s!" Mr. Denpa proudly announced.

"I can't wait to see more of it! I'm already boiling with excitement and won't be able to stay still for long." Saito admitted.

"Heh, heh, heh. Then let's get inside."

Mr. Denpa produced a set of keys and used one to unlock the door: the twins ran into the small platform atop a set of stairs and looked around in awe.

"Whoa~!"

The north end of the house was the main façade: two sets of balcony doors could be seen on the 2nd floor, a balcony with a door and a retractable shutter were built on both the 1st floor and the ground floor: the left side of the house had a set of colored glass pieces forming a column and allowing light inside of the house.

A small terrace was built right in front of the house: it had a round grayish plastic table and some white plastic chairs set around the area: two white metallic rails for a currently folded awning were built to extend from the leftmost side of the house until past some of the stairs steps.

The view at the left and behind was also broad: a swimming pool in the shape of a whale was built in a lower level of the garden some meters in front of the house: the area around the pool had brownish square tiles plus a small hut.

A small plaza was built directly in front and at a lower height of the main terrace: the west side of it had a large tree which climbed up and the branches of it extended as far as the top of the stairs where the group was currently standing at: the center of the plaza had a plastic hut colored brown, having a green roof and a red fake chimney.

"Wow… The garden is HUGE!" Netto exclaimed.

"Heh, heh, heh. This is just the beginning." Mr. Denpa teased.

"Sure." Saito grinned.

They descended the set of stairs and placed the suitcases to the left of the entrance door: they then walked across a small corridor parallel to the west side of the house to end into a small rectangular yard in front of a set of windows and a curtain made of plastic strings.

"Wow! This wall…" Saito gasped.

"I know."

"Cool!"

The wall opposite that of the house had a large yellow star with a "face" painted on the middle of it plus a drawing of a tree at its right: the SW corner had a chimney built into it and was directly underneath the platform at street level: an oval-shaped white plastic table was set there and another awning was folded above it: two lights with metallic structure and orange-like transparent glass were set above it, too.

The corridor continued into a space built underneath the platform which signaled the limit with the adjacent house: a plastic cupboard stood against the west-facing wall.

"Let's explore the garden first and then we'll go inside."

They stepped into this new area: a metallic stair allowed access to the platform while a set of stone steps descended into a lower yard having a metallic structure with thin strings crossing it from end to end: the opposite wall was covered by foliage as well: the east wall had a small room built into it having a large window a wooden door plus a window made of arranged bricks which looked into another room.

The west side was a delimiter wall made of several bricks which allowed sightings into the adjacent house's yard: the entrance to a room was built underneath the ground level platform and a small staircase running parallel to the west wall allowed exit from this area.

"This room down here is both a storeroom and where we take care of cleansing… The wet clothes are set on these strings to let the heat dry them… That brick window allows sighting into the water heater room adjacent to the main storage room… And that room under the ground level is the water control room… The valves and pipes controlling water flow are placed here plus some old deposits which used to hold water but are now outdated… The irrigation system control panel is built here, too, and the four lines which irrigate the garden spread out from here…"

"Cool! An automated irrigation system…" Saito looked awed.

"Heh, heh, heh. The mention of any complex machine makes Saito – niisan stare out in awe: he's a machine maniac!" Netto chuckled.

"So it'd seem." On Air muttered.

"Let's keep on."

They climbed down the stone steps into a corridor running adjacent to the east side of the house: the first thing to be seen was a set of tall black metallic fences surrounding an empty dog-house having some large blue plastic hoses stored inside of it: a natural wall marked the separation with another house built at a lower height than the garden and it ran all across the east side of the whole garden.

"A dog used to live here?" Netto asked.

"Yeah! Back when my father was young… But when my grandfathers moved back to Barcelona they brought the dog along. We've never had one, so we use it to store stuff. There was a door here, but it got rusted and we took it off since it didn't make any sense to keep it there by now…" Mr. Denpa replied.

"Dog – chan strikes from the center wing, Netto – kun."

"Yeah. I get the joke."

They walked some steps forward and then looked up and to the right to see the whole east side of the house: three sets of windows could be seen set at the ground floor level: two had retractable shutters set next to them while the first one counting from the left had two open shutters: the first floor had a large balcony with three balcony doors connecting different rooms: the second floor had two separate sets of retractable windows looking out above the perimeter wall and into the village.

"This part of the house can be clearly seen from the village's ground level, too! This house is set on a strategic position."

"Whoa. I can't wait to see how it looks from the inside: it's gotta be unique!" Netto exclaimed.

"Well… That'll depend on your perceptions… Let's check the main storage room and then we'll enter the house."

They climbed up a set of four steps and ended up on the space directly underneath the ground floor balcony: a wooden wall with a built-in-door was set in front of them: Mr. Denpa took out his set of keys and unlocked the door.

"Come in."

This underground room was a storeroom having a set of shelves set across the center of it, some desks set on the left side and stuff stored at random on the right side: the far wall had cupboards built into it plus a door at the leftmost side allowing access to the room with the water heater and another machine.

"That used to be a central heating system, but it stopped working ages ago… Let's go inside of the house and we'll leave the pool for the last thing to be visited."

"_Hai_~!"

They climbed up two sets of stairs to return to the ground level and they examined the main door: it was a piece made of wood with opaque glass panels set on it plus some iron bars spanning both vertically and horizontally across it: Mr. Denpa unlocked it.

"Wait a second: I gotta disable the alarm system!"

The twins looked on: the foyer's ground was polished parquetry while the only piece of furniture were a marble desk with a metallic structure to support it, a mirror with a metallic frame over it, and some small wooden shelves at the right side of it.

A set of greenish stone stairs with wooden and black metal handrails began at the left side: part of its wall had been replaced by wooden and had a door allowing access to a small room built underneath it where Mr. Denpa had stepped into.

"Done. Come in!"

The twins came in as Mr. Denpa came out and shut the door: two closed doors made of opaque glass panels and wooden frame were set on the leftmost side of the east wall while the other chunk of the wall had a built-in radiator: looking upwards one could see the twisting staircase connecting both floors of the house.

"This is the foyer! We're now going into the living room."

He opened one of the doors: the group stepped into a large living room having plenty of interesting furniture.

To begin with, two brown leather sofas were set forming the left and upper sides of a square with a small green armchair placed directly behind the door: a chimney with a fireplace was set between the sofa and the armchair.

"Wow. A real fireplace… Must be good in winter!" Netto exclaimed.

"Of course."

"There's a lot more to see!" Saito looked awed.

A set of three window panels were set behind the northern sofa to allow light in: the other two windows set on the east wall with a small separation within them and they provided the natural illumination and air for the room.

A bookcase with four cupboards doors and a radiator built inside of it stood behind the second sofa: a radio was placed on the biggest space while its speakers were set on the NW and NE spaces of the whole bookcase: two sets of shelves were set behind and between it plus above the radio: books, DVDs and videotapes occupied the shelves along with a few photographs.

"This bookcase looks practical: you could stuff both the radiator and the radio on it!" Netto brought up.

"True! Talk about space saving." Saito seemed to agree with it.

Mr. Denpa merely shrugged and seemed to like their comments: On Air stood silently closed by, too.

"Let's see…" They muttered.

A metallic set of five selves stood directly opposite the northern sofa: it had a large LCD TV set on the topmost shelf and other items scattered around the remaining four shelves.

An oak octagonal wooden table was placed behind this set of shelves: some foldable wooden chairs allowed seating around it: a curious lamp consisting of a black triangle with three small light bulbs set inside of a metallic circle and hanging from the ceiling hovered directly above the exact center of the table.

The east wall had a hand-made tapestry piece set on it: a closed door was placed at its right along with a radiator glued to the door's right: the southern wall had a three-piece canvas depicting a fisherman's village somewhere set on it, too.

"Wow. That canvas is very colorful and detailed!" Netto commented.

"There's still a lot more to see." Mr. Denpa warned.

He opened the door and they stepped into a kitchen room: the left and directly in front walls had a large marble shelf built into it: the left side had the iron stoves plus an integrated electrical oven beneath it: the extractor was set above them as well.

The opposite wall had the dishwasher and a microwave heater built into it plus some drawers and cupboard doors.

A metallic table with a glass surface occupied the center of the kitchen with some black plastic and metallic chairs being set around it: two windows were built atop the two sinks which were directly left of the dishwasher: these windows allowed one to see the yard built on the west side of the house: the exit door was placed towards the right of the microwave heater.

Starting at the right of the door and extending across the south-facing wall were some metallic shelves containing cups, vases, and other stuff.

"Wow! Two fridges…!" Saito exclaimed.

One of them, the taller, was set directly left of the entrance door while the second one, slightly shorter in height, stood to the right of the exit door: a small corridor originated past the second fridge.

This dead-end corridor had a large wooden piece of furniture with several drawers and cupboards doors occupying the southern wall: a large window was set atop it as well which looked out into the corridor crossing beneath the ground level platform.

The corridor's south-end wall and eastern wall had two rows of glass shelves holding several items, too.

An open wooden door set towards the right of the entrance allowed access into a parquet corridor: this corridor had a room on the left side of it and another at the end of it: the right wall was occupied by a full-body mirror.

"What are these rooms?" Netto asked.

"Check it out, gentlemen."

The twins stepped into the room which was a bathroom: the toilet was set on the center of it accompanied by two small opaque class and white metallic frame which overlooked the rearmost yard: the right side of the room had a sink plus a mirror and a small cupboard was set at the left of the toilet: a shower was built occupying the west-side wall, too: the whole room was painted white thus giving it a "bright" appearance.

"Nice colors…" Saito complimented.

"Last one makes ten flexions!" Netto challenged as he ran out.

"Oi! Not fair, Netto – kun!"

They ran into the room at the end of the corridor: it had a white fan on the center of the ceiling, two balcony doors overseeing the east side corridor, a large black wood shelf occupying the south-facing wall, a black wood drawer set on the opposite wall plus a small round table with a cloth set over it: two cupboards opened on the west-facing wall to the door's right.

"This room is used in multiple manners… You could use some of the toys to play or pick a book to read. Well. This ends the ground floor tour. Let's go tackle the 1st floor next." Mr. Denpa announced.

"O. K.!" Netto grinned.

"I'll pull your guilty ears if you try to play smart on me again, Netto – ku~n…" Saito teased with a grin.

"Oi, oi…"

"Please follow me."

The group undid the earlier path and entered the foyer again: the first flight of stairs had a small ledge adjacent to it and the north-facing wall was where that set of colored glass pieces was set at: the filtered light illuminated the staircase in a curious manner.

"Wow. So that's why you built that wall like that…" Netto realized.

"Interesting!" Saito grinned.

"Thanks for the compliments."

They climbed up three flights of stairs until they stopped in the 1st floor corridor: a small console was set there which had some photos placed atop it: the door leading to the north-facing balcony was placed there and a new corridor facing south spread open to the left of the stairs: its ground was made of parquet, too, and six doors were placed on it.

"Whoa. Plenty of rooms here…" Netto muttered.

"Enough to hide your Battle Chips boxes?" Saito joked.

"I catch the joke."

"Catch a catching catch."

"That sounds weird."

"Not really. It sounds redundant."

"Guess so…."

"Pick the first room you'd like to check out, gentlemen." Mr. Denpa invited them with a grin.

"I say 1st left!" Netto signaled it.

"Well then… Lead the way, otouto – chan." Saito challenged.

"Yeah, yeah… Ya win." Netto looked unimpressed.

The room turned out to be another bathroom with grayish tiles: the sink was placed facing north along with three mirrors which were the doors of three small cupboards: the toilet was placed directly in front of the door: a shower design similar to the one in the ground floor was set on the south-facing wall: the window with the rotation-capable panes was set above the toilet and allowed sights into the street.

"Not bad. But I bet the 1st right will be cooler." Netto grinned.

"Cooler than a cooling cool?"

"Not again… Stop bringing up Forte's crazy ideas."

"I'd rather say his original ideas."

"Whatever. Last one makes ten flexions."

"Not fair!"

They ran into the room directly in front of the bathroom: it was a bedroom having a king-sized bed facing the east wall, several cupboard doors occupying the south-facing wall and two balcony doors exiting into the east-facing section: there were three interconnected wooden-framed-windows connecting with the north-facing 1st floor balcony, too: a small sofa was set opposite the bed as well and a fan was built on the ceiling.

"Your bedroom isn't this one: it's the 2nd floor one. But allow me to introduce you to a little surprise." Mr. Denpa smiled.

He headed for the farthest cupboard door and opened it: he revealed a very small corridor with a door on the opposite side which he opened as well to step into the other room: the twins gasped and quickly followed him through it.

"Whoa. A secret corridor…!" Netto exclaimed.

"Almost like a movie!"

"Heh, heh, heh. This is a communication door in case you don't want to go through the corridor or the balcony." Mr. Denpa explained.

This new room had a metallic-structure table with a glass surface set on the center of it plus a set of metallic shelves containing many books: a metallic drawer set was placed to the secret door's right while another was set directly opposite this one: two cupboards doors were built on the west-facing wall next to the entrance door: two balcony doors were built on the east-facing wall to allow exit into the balcony overseeing the east-side corridor.

"This is a storage room but it used to be a workspace… Half of the 1st floor tour's over… Let's go for the second half via the Big Brother's corridor, shall we?"

"Big Brother's corridor?"

"Heh, heh, heh… Look at the far end of it and you'll realize the grace of it, gentlemen…"

They both ran out into the corridor and looked at the far end: a device which had a red LED on was placed above the farthest door and it seemed to be controlling the corridor's length: the LED switched off on its own after a few seconds.

"That's part of the alarm system… It's strategically placed to detect anyone stepping through here, thus it's like it was the Big Brother keeping an eye on us…" Mr. Denpa told them.

"It must look creepy at nighttime!" Netto guessed.

"Correct."

"Let's see who'll tackle it." Saito challenged.

"Heh, heh, heh. I say 2nd left!"

"Then lead the way, Mr. Smith."

"I dunno who you mean, but…" Netto muttered.

"Who knows?" Saito teased.

Netto opened the select room door's: it was largely unlit but some sunlit filtered through the closed window looking out into the ground level platform adjacent to the west and south ends of the house: the room had a set of shelves on the south wall with another in the west wall and left of the window: several suits stored inside of funds were set on perches across the west wall: the east-facing wall had two cupboard doors on it as well.

"Storage area for suits and other stuff… Used to be the workshop, but, as you saw, we moved it down to the basement for more conformity and easier use…" Mr. Denpa let out.

"It surely was a large labor." On Air suddenly commented.

"True! But was worth it. Go ahead full throttle, gentlemen."

"Yesss! Here I go~!" Netto looked fueled up.

"Calling on Turbo Man!" Saito giggled.

The 5th room was another bedroom: it had a fan on the ceiling, too, plus a king-sized bed and the usual cupboards together with the balcony door allowing exit into it.

"The final room!" Mr. Denpa announced.

Both ran in to find a bathroom with bluish tiles: it had a toilet with a small window over it looking out into the metallic stairs linking ground level with the street level platform: the sink was placed towards the left with the set of cupboards and the bathtub: a map of Ameroupe filled the east-facing wall.

"1st floor tour: over! Let's go to the 2nd floor." Mr. Denpa clapped.

"Nice house, really! All rooms hold a surprise." Netto complimented.

"I guess you're fond of surprises, Netto – kun. Mr. Surprise is orbiting around ya…" Saito giggled.

Netto rolled his eyes as they finished climbing up the stairs and stepped through a door into the main 2nd floor room.

"Huge~!" Both uttered.

The room's ground was made of parquet, too, and the ceiling was covered by wood: the triangle-shaped form could be noted here given how the eastern side of the room's ceiling was lower than in the middle.

Two balcony doors oversaw the whole north end of the house and a large wooden desk with plastic supports stood in front of them: two bulky PC screens plus an integrated PC were set atop it while two computer cases were set on the ground.

Another desk was set starting at the eastern edge of the computer-holding desk and it had several books and CDs piled on it.

Two beds had been placed facing opposite directions with a small brown sofa between both of them: two columns for ceiling support extended from the middle of the ceiling and ended on the center portion of the eastern wall: the two retractable windows were built atop the end of the columns.

Standing at the right of the entrance door was a set of wooden shelves containing several books, VHS and stuffed animals.

Two fans hung from the ceiling although one was missing its "arms" and the control device.

The south-facing end of the room had a drawer set plus a large wooden bar which acted as a perch to hang clothes from: a world map was placed on the wall as well: two doors opened at both sides of the wall with a third one placed towards the right of the entrance door.

"Wow. This attic room looks so big and bright…! It's different from the others rooms!" Netto gasped.

"Yeah… You feel like you've got plenty of space to use!" Saito added.

"This will be your bedroom, gentlemen. But let us wrap up our VIP tour of this floor, shall we?"

"Roger!"

The room annex to this one was a bedroom having a king-sized bed underneath the window, two support columns, an LCD TV mounted on a slightly mobile platform up in the left side of the wall, and a set of shelves expanding the whole of the west-facing wall: the leftmost corner had a door leading to the adjacent room also accessible from the main bedroom: a small gray sofa had been placed on the SE corner.

"I'll be sleeping here. And this adjacent room is the bathroom which we'll share." Mr. Denpa told them.

"Let's check it out, then." Netto suggested.

"_Check it out!_" Saito exclaimed in English.

"Who says that?"

"Said. Bright Man. Remember? He was one of the Navis gone berserk when the Zero Virus Incident." Saito reminded him.

"Ah. True, true… Anyway… Let's go, Mr. Perfect."

"No – one's perfect, Netto – chan." Saito teased.

"Grah! Quit that!" Netto growled.

"Hit a spot…" Saito trailed off.

"Man." Netto sighed.

"It seems like they desire to imitate a matter-antimatter behavior of cancelling each other, sir." On Air whispered to Mr. Denpa.

"You know… That's not a crazy way of explaining this. I used to be somewhat like this with my younger brother, but… I guess I shouldn't trail off… Point is: Agents Mori and Karasu sometimes act like that given Agent Karasu's idea of a message speaking about fedoras…"

"I knew about it, sir. It amused me, sir."

"Heh, heh, heh. Agent Karasu has a good instinct as to how to camouflage messages…" Mr. Denpa chuckled.

The twins had already stepped into the bathroom: its tiles were of a yellowish color and the west-facing wall had two large cupboards with a larger compartment to store clothes and a small one overhead to store shampoos, perfumes and other products.

Two sinks were built on the east-facing wall left of the room linking to the second bedroom along with a large mirror: two small white plastic cupboards were attached to the walls at both left and right of the door leading to the main bedroom.

There was a slightly higher section separated by one step which had the toilet and an enclosed shower: Mr. Denpa opened a door next to the shower to reveal a small room having a square stone water deposit plus the windows looking out into the street.

"Only one room left!" He teased.

"What nerves!" Both uttered.

They followed Mr. Denpa into the remaining room: he lifted his right hand and interacted with a light bulb to turn it on and reveal a small storeroom having several shelves and storing VHS, toys and board games.

"Whoa. All the rooms were surprising." Netto whistled in surprise.

"That's why Mr. Surprise orbits 'round ya…" Saito giggled.

"Follow me… We've got to check the pool out!"

"Yay! Swimming pool!" Both looked excited.

"Don't run down the stairs!" Mr. Denpa warned.

"_Hai_~!"

The group of four calmly walked down the sets of stairs and exited into the main terrace: they then headed downstairs into the garden and ended up in the corridor leading towards the pool: a green and yellow tiled fountain with a lion's head was set nearby and both checked it out of curiosity.

"Whoa. Looks scary…!" Netto gasped.

"Scary Man was here, then." Saito giggled.

"Behold!" Mr. Denpa signaled the right.

Both looked at the pool: the rim of it was made of white stone with embedded minerals while its walls and ground were a mosaic of little blue tiles: two steel stairs allowed easy entrance and exit.

A skimmer mouth was set on the north-facing edge along with its cover: the south-facing edge had a small white plastic slit as well complemented with a blue and white stripes trampoline.

The opposite end of the area had a set of metallic pipes and valves half-hidden by the grown foliage which climbed all the way to the street level along the concrete walls.

"Whoa! Look at that, Netto – kun!" Saito gasped.

"Cool!" Netto gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh. This pool's number one attraction: here you have it at your disposal, gentlemen!"

A pink slide was set on the west side of the pool, in a corner, and was set so that the users would end up over the deepest spot of the pool where the bottom suction white plastic cover was set at.

"A slide…! It's gotta be cool!" Netto exclaimed.

"Of course. So?" Mr. Denpa teased.

"I'm settled! I'll slide down it!"

"Oi! I'm gonna do that, too, and heading face-first, too!"

"It'd seem your strategy is success, sir." On Air whispered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Of course…" Mr. Denpa chuckled.

"O. K.! Say bye to sleeping! I won't stop now!"

"I won't, either!"

Mr. Denpa and On Air chuckled while the twins grinned…


	3. Chapter 3: Fun in the pool

**Chapter 3: Fun in the pool**

11:15 AM (Barcelona Time), Saturday July the 22nd…

"… We're all set!"

"Set as settings!"

"That sounds weird."

"Who knows?"

"Heh, heh, heh… Anyway… Say bye to On Air, gentlemen."

"Thank you for everything, On Air – san!"

"It is nothing."

The twins had changed into swimming trunks and sandals while carrying their towels as well: they stood in the front terrace and talked with Mr. Denpa and On Air.

"If you shall excuse me… I shall be returning to the city. Do have a good stay, gentlemen." On Air excused himself.

"Goodbye, On Air – san! Thanks for everything!"

"It is nothing, gentlemen. Well then… Goodbye, Mr. Denpa, sir."

"Enjoy the vacation."

Mr. Denpa walked up the entrance stairs with On Air: he unlocked the door and then locked it.

"You may go and pick the hammock you want down there. But please don't get into the pool until I return. Wait and I'll bring the Wi-Fi password too since it's a long one which even I have a hard time remembering..." Mr. Denpa instructed.

"Roger!"

"The steel mailbox has solar cream. Make sure to put some of it on before anything else. And you may check the small hut but please don't touch anything…" He added.

"_Hai_~!"

Mr. Denpa smiled and stepped inside of the house while the twins headed downstairs: Saito opened the steel mailbox and picked one solar cream pot before closing it: they then picked two of the blue hammocks which they placed to the slide's left: they spread their towels over those and Saito opened the pot.

"Please turn around, Netto – kun. I have to apply this." Saito requested of him.

"Sure, Solar Man." Netto grinned.

"Comeback, huh?" Saito asked with a smile as he rubbed Netto's shoulders with the cream.

"Sure thing."

"O. K. Now please spread it around my back, too." Saito requested as he handed him the cream.

"Roger, Admiral."

Netto calmly spread it and then finished spreading it around his body: Saito washed his hands off with the pool's water before heading over to the small hut having two small thick wooden doors: he swung them outwards and gasped.

"Whoa. Should've guessed it… The pool's pump and filtering systems are here!" He exclaimed.

"Lemme check it out." Netto looked animated.

The interior of the hut was filled with bluish tiles: a cylindrical metallic deposit was set on the left side with two bluish plastic pipes coming and out at different heights: they connected with a central multi-purpose valve and the pump itself: two pipes emerged from the ground each having a large manual valve as well: one pipe came out of the hut through the right-side wall, was visible from the outside, and then continued inside of the concrete wall: a plastic grey-colored control panel with six switches was set close by: the whole set was working and humming.

"Let's see… The leftmost thing is the filter… The center has the multi-purpose valve which controls the "mode" of the pool… There are five positions… filter, rinse, drain, waste, cleansing… The two pipes emerging from the ground have to be the water intakes of both the skimmer and the bottommost point… Their length makes sense… They can be opened and closed at will… The pump has the engine attached to it plus a compartment which also filters out what's taken it with the water… The white spots spread around the pool's walls have to be the air outlets, then… The system's functionality depends on the valve's position… And that switch labeled "engine" must be the one which turns it on and off when you wish… Hmmm? Oh. A timer is connected to the plug… You can set it to manually start up at given times and stop… This thing is set to work from 1 AM to 1 PM…" Saito described aloud.

"Heh, heh, heh. As expected of Rock Man EXE: he can deduce how a machine works with just one detailed glance!" Netto grinned.

"I'm not a Navi inhabiting a "cyborg body" in vain, Netto – kun. This thing doesn't have a Plug – In system given its large simplicity, so there's no chance of Viruses endangering it." Saito smiled back.

"Sorry for the wait." Mr. Denpa announced as he caught up with them: he carried a wireless phone with him plus an Apple iPad tablet.

"Whoa! Is that an iPad tablet? I'd heard about them but it's the first time I see one: everyone seems to believe PETs are better than them." Netto whistled in surprise.

"Heh, heh, heh. Not having a Navi sometimes brings upon unexpected surprises, gentlemen."

"Sure thing… By the way… I had a question which may sound like it kills the mood, but…" Saito suddenly brought up.

"… Ah. Colonel Thunderbolt? He's requested to permanently reside in Sharo Nation from now on: he thinks what he did one year ago was too exaggerated and wants to avoid such things from happening again, so this is why he won't be coming back to Japan or leave Sharo Nation…" Mr. Denpa explained.

"Oh. Fine, then." Netto smiled.

"You could contact your parents and tell them we've arrived alright, by the way. They'll be relieved."

"Leave it to me." Saito grinned as he picked the Link PET from above the hammock.

He dialed a number and waited: Yuuichirou and Haruka showed up onscreen and looked in a good mood.

"Netto! Saito! Is everything alright over there?" Yuuichirou asked.

"Yeah! We arrived alright and we're already hooked: Denpa – san's villa is unique!" Saito replied.

"Yeah! We're about to hit the pool!" Netto added.

"That sounds good!" Haruka looked amused.

"By the way… Wouldn't you know? _Forte_ actually contacted me."

"Forte did?" Everyone sounded surprised.

"It'd seem he'd wanted to do that for a while but didn't know when would be a good time, so… He wanted to consult with me if it'd be a good idea approaching Cossack – hakase, so I told him that it could be. He also wanted to say he appreciated the efforts both Father and I did to try to defend him back then… He will then go visit Cyber City because it'd seem something is going around there after all. Ijuuin – kun has already produced a report which hints at some "sneaky grunts" being up to something…." Yuuichirou explained.

"Guess Cyber City's gonna become a magnet." Mr. Denpa muttered as if thinking aloud.

"So it'd seem!" Haruka shrugged.

"So, what are Papa and Mama gonna do?" Netto asked.

"We'll go to Nagano Prefecture with our friends: we want to try to gather the old club back!" Yuuichirou blinked them an eye.

"That sounds nice." Saito commented.

"Take care!" Haruka added.

The call finished and Saito left the Link PET atop the hammock: they spotted Mr. Denpa crouching and filling a bucket with water which he handed to Netto.

"Here. Use this to soak the slide. Make sure it's wet enough and then grip both handrails as you climb atop it." He instructed.

"O. K.!"

Netto threw the water against the slide and it quickly slid down: he filled the bucket again and aimed higher to soak the highest spot as well: he then left the bucket on the ground, took off his sandals, and climbed up the stairs before he leant his upper body on the slide.

"Let's go~!" He exclaimed.

He slid down it and hit the water face-first: he quickly swam upwards and gripped the staircase.

"Cool!" He laughed.

Saito was already climbing it up, too, but he sat down on the topmost spot and entered in a normal manner: he quickly dived, touched the bottommost spot with his right hand, propelled upwards, and broke through the water.

"Whoa! I touched the bottom!" Saito laughed.

Mr. Denpa left the wireless phone, the iPad and his sunglasses atop his hammock before taking off the sandals and jumping inside using the boost from the trampoline: he quickly emerged as well.

"There's nothing like a quick entrance to get used!" He told them.

"True!" Both giggled.

"Today we'll just get used to the village: we'll start our excursions of Barcelona and its surroundings tomorrow."

"Sounds like a plan." Netto ventured.

"It's a plan." Saito confirmed.

"By the way… When was this house built?" Netto asked.

"It was inaugurated in 1964! This pool wasn't built until four years later, on 1968. My grandfather commissioned its construction and it was one of the very first houses to be erected in this street." Mr. Denpa replied.

"Wow! One of the very first… Then this village was way smaller back then, right?" Saito whistled in surprise.

"Correct. This house has undergone several interior renovations over the years, obviously enough. The deposits and central heating became obsolete and so did most of the electrical installation… We've had to upgrade it to meet today's standards. The central gas deposit became obsolete, too, so we now use simple gas canteens which supply the gas needed for the kitchen. All of the 1st floor's rooms were used to live and the 2nd floor was a barren attic: my father was the one who decided to make wise use of the space and renovated it." He detailed.

"Obviously… But it's a nice house, nevertheless… Say… What's that street level platform, anyway?"

"Oh. That? The parking! Two cars fit there."

"And that's why you have that door… How do you open it?"

"Manually. The rail got deformed time ago and the automated engine burnt out. But it's no big deal if you make sure to grease the rail: then I can easily open and close it."

"That huge building we saw on our way here… What was it?"

"Ah. The concrete factory next to the Llobregat River bridge…"

"Whoa. Concrete factory…" Saito whistled in surprise.

"That large spinning cylinder is the stove where the concrete is prepared at… It supplies concrete to many of the construction projects going around this area…"

"Is there any big city past this region?"

"Well… Vilafranca del Penedès could be considered the region's main nexus city… But then you have Sant Sadurní d'Anoia... Its specialty is the traditional production and selling of cava and wines… This region is rich in peaches and donut peaches, too…" Mr. Denpa explained.

"Wow… And… Does it feel… genuine?" Saito asked next.

"What? Ah. Of course! Almost no tourist gets to hear about this and even less bother to come here… Thus, it's rather genuine! I'll show you around there. But Barcelona also has its unknown spots which only a veteran can spot…" He teased.

"All cities have hidden spots." Netto grinned.

"Mr. Spots must be busy at work." Saito joked.

"That sounds lame."

"Blame Mr. Lame." He shrugged.

"I get the joke."

"So, this is today's plan. We settle our luggage on the spots it has to be and we rest: if we still feel like it and isn't too late, then we go down to the village. But if we don't get to go today, then it's no big deal. We can always come back another day." Mr. Denpa listed.

"Fine." Saito smiled.

"Mr. Fine will make you fine." Netto grinned.

"Mr. Ear-pull will pull your ears to straighten ya out." Saito joked back.

"Will you please quit doing that?"

"It's my duty to set you straight, Netto – kun."

"Man. Bad luck chases me everywhere."

"Who knows?" Saito teased.

Mr. Denpa chuckled at it while Netto rolled his eyes…

11:49 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Mail… From Hiro & Delta."

"Oh! What do they say?"

"Enzan is back to his old self."

"Heh. Obviously. He wants to get the credit and must be bossing Hiro – kun around saying he's a cadet."

Netto and Saito were sunbathing while lying in their hammocks: Netto was checking his email and Saito looked up from a book he'd been reading: he looked amused.

"Yeah. He really tends to play deaf to suggestions. Hiro has tried joking with him but Enzan acted like he wasn't there to begin with! Luckily, Hiro is working from Akihara Town, so… He doesn't have to share lodgings with Enzan." Netto explained.

"I guess Delta will try to imitate Solid Snake's infiltration style: assault Navis from behind and command them to talk." Saito grinned.

"Yeah… Maybe they're part of a ring to sell fake tickets for the World Fair…? Those things tend to happen when there are these mass events like concerts or exhibits…" Netto suggested.

"Maybe it's just that: the mayor must be concerned about such a story harming his city's reputation on the middle of such an important event and thus requested the aid of the Net Saviors and the Officials to chase those guys down the alley they came out from." Saito shrugged.

Mr. Denpa looked up slightly from the iPad as he sat on a plastic retractable armchair: he seemed to have heard their conversation and looked interested.

_Ah! So that's what those strange movements could be about… Good ideas, gentlemen! I will contact Chief Lezareno with the suggestion that the conspirers might try to use such a cover when, in truth, they seek something far more serious… I dunno the what, yet, but knowing the Chief, he'll soon find out…_

"Another mail… Troll-F… Forte." Netto announced.

"What's his latest joke?" Saito asked.

"An ugly monster's weakness: a mirror… Oho. Of course! Seeing how ugly their hide really is should be enough to scare the guts outta them and even make them end up out cold." Netto laughed.

"Heh, heh, heh. Maybe Enzan needs to look on the mirror and realize his stone face looks horrible?" Saito giggled.

"Blues would complain one of his hairs is not smooth enough." Netto laughed next.

"And then he'd get into a quarrel with Red Sword to see whose hairstyle is cooler." Saito deduced.

"Oho. That'd be worth seeing!" Netto grinned.

"Maybe the "Hunters' Guild" will hunt those grunts down when they try to flee through the _classical_ backdoor." Saito suggested.

"Caught between the sword and the wall…"

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire…"

"Result: total defeat." Both sentenced.

"They should study Takeda Shingen's works." Mr. Denpa suddenly suggested with a hint of amusement.

"But since they'll say "that's outdated" they'll be beaten down by the _Art of War_'s strategies…" Saito suggested next.

"And then they'll discover that there's no _Art of Escape_ like they'd been taught at the Villain Club." Netto improvised.

"Heh, heh, heh. I think we'll easily understand each other at this rate, gentlemen."

"Sure."

"Let's have an exciting summer."

19:04 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hmpf. So that's why they came, then. Fine. It doesn't mean anything at all. Proceed with the plan, "Believers"…"

"Roger, Founder – sama."

"Ah! But if you spot any Navi who doesn't seem to be the usual weak or cheap type, then ignore them and hide your presence. They could be the investigators."

"We understand, sir. We are making noticeable progress, sir."

"My position is secure and I have the means to capture "them" once they're woken up. Remember: keep on as you are but avoid the strong-looking Navis. Later."

"Roger, Founder – sama."

An unidentified man finished a call using a Link PET while standing inside of a largely unlit room and next to a bookcase: a smile formed on his face and he looked amused.

"Heh, heh, heh. What bothersome foolish people! While you people play around out there and beat around the bush, I'm already five steps ahead and ready to execute my plans. I waited for my chance: the strongest Net Savior is out the country and only some novices and one veteran are left in the country. But no veteran can hope to stand up to "them" even in their weakened status… Heh, heh, heh." The man muttered.

He picked a chair and sat down in front of a desk: he unlocked a drawer and tossed the Link PET inside before closing it and locking it with a key: he kept on looking amused.

"Play around while you can! You'll soon realize that you've been blind this whole time. I'm a genius and you people can't hope to rival my intelligence…! You bunch of fools… You tried to make a scapegoat out of _that person_ but I know better. You shall regret your past actions dearly: I assure you! Heh, heh, heh…"

The man chuckled under his breath and sounded up to something…


	4. Chapter 4: Trouble around the corner

**Chapter 4: Trouble around the corner**

09:19 AM (Barcelona Time), Sunday July the 23rd…

"… Fua~h… Morning already…? Hmmm…"

Saito stretched and sat up from the bed set on the south-facing end of the 2nd floor room: he rubbed his eyes and looked around the room: Netto was still sleeping on the bed opposite his: the balcony doors were wide open.

"Even though we hit the sack early yesterday, I still feel tired… The "jet lag" effect must be the cause… It'll fade out eventually… I better get on the move…" Saito muttered.

He put on the sandals and entered the bathroom: he opened one faucet and applied cold water to his face to cleanse it: he sighed and then headed downstairs into the ground floor: he opened the main door and stepped into the front terrace: a soft wind was blowing and the sunlight was being filtered by the pine tree's foliage.

"Wow. Feels calm… This must be the real charm of this terrace." He muttered with a hint of surprise.

He picked a chair and sat down there while looking out towards the distant mountains and a tall metallic tower set on the peak of the central one.

"The Collserola Tower… Acts just like Tokyo Tower: it's a broadcaster for TV and radio signals… It has a viewing platform with spectacular sights to the city, or so Denpa – san told us… His bed was already arranged, so maybe he went off to run some errands on the village…"

The street door opened and Mr. Denpa stepped in: he carried a plastic bag with baguettes on it, a navy blue cap and sunglasses: he was humming a tune as he closed the door and walked down the stairs.

"Oh. Good morning, Saito – kun. Did you sleep well?"

"I did, Denpa – san. The room was well ventilated and the temperature wasn't that high."

"Good. Can you give me a hand to unfold the awning? Go down the garden stairs and grab the string you'll see: I'll pick the other and we have to pull both of them in a synchronized manner."

"Roger!"

Saito descended to the square south of the main terrace and pulled the string next to the support column for the awning's rails: he pulled the cord along with Mr. Denpa and the awning was soon unfolded: rushed footsteps rang out climbing down the stairs.

"Oho. Netto – kun got woken up and must think it's late in the morning by now…" Saito grinned.

"So it'd seem." Mr. Denpa sounded amused.

Netto came out through the main door and looked around in a seemingly puzzled manner, blinking several times.

"W-where is this?" He wondered aloud.

"Netto – kun. You're not gonna tell me you forgot we were on our vacation." Saito called out as he climbed up the stairs.

"A~h! Crap! I knew I was forgetting something!" Netto gasped.

"The comb?" Saito joked.

"Why should I need a comb?" Netto asked.

"Ask Mr. Comb."

"Very funny, niisan." He grumbled.

"Very original."

"It's overused." Netto pointed out.

"All's fair in trolling, or so Forte claims." Saito shrugged.

"I dunno if Forte is stable anymore."

"Oi, oi, oi… Beware of the Big Brother… He has eyes and ears everywhere… You never know…" Saito teased.

"Well then… You must be feeling hungry! Come with me to the kitchen and we'll prepare a breakfast."

They followed Mr. Denpa into the kitchen: he laid the baguettes atop the marble and then picked a wooden tablet plus a large knife to cut them in two: he then split them in two halves which he arranged: he picked some tomatoes and a pot of olive oil.

"I introduced you yesterday night to our tradition of _pa amb tomàquet_, didn't I? Well then… Go ahead. I'll bring out the stuff."

Saito picked one tomato which he split in half and rubbed it against the bread's inner mass: Netto picked the remaining half and did the same before they added the olive oil: Mr. Denpa took a sealed ham package from the tallest fridge and opened it: they set some slices of ham inside of the sandwich before connecting both halves.

"Looks yummy!" Netto grinned.

"Ham Man strikes back through the backdoor." Saito joked.

"Jeez."

"Heh, heh, heh."

"Let's go to the main terrace: it's ideal to have breakfast."

The three of them sat down on the chairs around the round table and ate their breakfast, accompanied by glasses of cold water.

"So… What's the plan?" Netto asked.

"We'll visit the Sarrià District: it's my home district and it has a lot of nice spots to visit since it's close to the Collserola Park, too. One day we'll explore that area, too, but we need to spend a whole day there, so let's move it for a later time."

"Sounds good… When are we leaving?"

"Hmmm… Let's say an hour's time… I think it should be enough. But there's no rush, really. By the time we get there rush hour will be over so we shouldn't meet any problems…"

"Alright. Netto – kun: we've gotta arrange our beds back and have a shower." Saito instructed.

"O. K., Admiral."

"Shooting the tennis balls back at me, eh?"

"Guess so."

"I'd rather you're bringing up a shield to make projectiles bounce off it, you know…" Mr. Denpa humorously suggested.

"Sure thing." Netto's grin grew wider.

"Grinning grinner of grins…" Saito made up a rhyme.

"That sounds too weird…" Netto looked defeated.

"Who knows?"

"That question is too vague!"

"I'd rather it's neutral." Mr. Denpa suggested.

"Denpa – san…! Are you in league with niisan?"

"Maybe."

"Man."

"Beware of my magical fingers, Netto – kun."

"I get the warning."

"Warning Man is orbiting around ya…" Saito giggled.

"And so is a TIE fighter." Netto countered.

"Oho. Then I'll bring up the X – Wing and shake it off by jumping into hyper-space." Saito announced.

"Jeez. Why don't TIEs have hyper-space drives?" Netto complained.

"Ask Raith Sienar…" Mr. Denpa chuckled.

Saito giggled while Netto rolled his eyes…

16:48 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Tell me again why trouble knocks everywhere I go to, Blues."

"I do not know, Enzan – sama."

"Ho, ho, ho… You lowlifes can't stand up my nice little Hell?"

"Shut the trap up."

"Who is you lowlifes' Boss?"

"Ho, ho, ho… Founder – sama commands us… We are the "Believers" and we will soon have the whole of the Network Society under our control! Ho, ho, ho…"

"Another Net Mafia, huh… What bothersome rubbish."

"Net Mafia? Hah. Don't look down on us! We're gonna accomplish our goal in less than a week starting today."

"Bluff."

"Ho, ho, ho… Whatever. The great I, Blast Man – sama, will burn you lowlifes up!"

Blues was facing off a Net Navi: the adversary seemed to be around a meter and eighty tall while his main body color was red and metallic gray.

His head included a rectangle-shaped piece extending towards the rear colored red and with four vertical and thin heat exhausts placed on each side of it: his face was painted black and set within a gray metallic rim running down the sides of it and going over the chin. His eyes were tinted black while his mouth's interior was colored red: he had no nose.

This Navi's upper body had an oven-like shape with three heat exhausts set on his chest: the lower body and legs above the knee didn't have any armor on them and were colored black.

The shoulders had two pieces of armor shaped like whistles having a small golden-colored dome: his forearms had red armor over them while his arms and hands' skin was colored black.

His knees had hexagons placed over them with three golden-colored stripes similar to heat exhausts on them: the rest of his legs and feet had red armor on them: his feet had a ramp-like shape and ended in two layers of gray metallic soils: a thin vertical yellow stripe was placed over the spot where the middle fingers would be at:

Overall, he looked strong and agile.

"I come to the shopping mall to check a simple malfunction and it turns out this jerk was trying to stir up a hell by messing with the central heating system in the midst of the summer… What a welcome party." Enzan grimly muttered.

"Ho, ho, ho… Blast Fires!"

Blast Man charged up energy and made two rushes of fire travel down the ground parallel to his body to then converge into one and head for Blues: he quickly dashed past it, sliced it, and almost hit Blast Man, who'd managed to dodge at the last second.

"Huh! Fast!" Blast Man gasped.

"I guess you lowlife haven't heard of me." Blues calmly challenged.

"Who needs to hear from a punk? Take this! Blast Swirl!"

Blast Man loaded energy up and formed a swirl of flames headed for Blues: he warped and sliced Blast Man's back twice: before Blast Man could recover, though, Blues moved in front of him and plunged his Long Sword into both of Blast Man's hips: he lastly delivered a kick to his lower jaw and jumped away from him.

"Grah! This jerk's no grunt!" He cursed.

"I'm an Ace Official Net Battler." Blues announced.

"What! You lowlife are THE Blues EXE?" Blast Man gasped.

"Even if you've realized by now, it's too late. I'll arrest you lowlife and we'll get the info we need." Blues shot back.

"Che."

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide Sword, Long Sword! Dream Sword! Go, Blues!"

"Roger, Enzan – sama! Hra~h!"

"Blast…!"

"Slow."

Blues hit Blast Man with the Dream Sword and he roared in agony before turning into data and escaping: a time bomb was left on his place and it was quickly counting down: Blues calmly sliced it and then looked around the area.

"That was no grunt. He most likely aimed to take attention away from the World Fair… I'm sure something is brewing up behind the scenes." Blues commented.

"I think the same, too… Let's prepare a report for Commissioner Kifune about this."

"Roger."

"Plug Out."

Enzan sighed and placed the Link PET on his arm-strap before walking away from the control panel in a corner of a shopping mall's main corridor which was full of activity: he seemed to be thinking about it.

_Founder? Believers? What do they "believe" in to begin with? That they can control Network Society in less than a week's time? Maybe there are strong Navis hidden in key posts? A 5__th__ column…? This affair sounds like it can turn dangerous…_

"Blues. Send a mail to the Hikari Brothers: let's see what they think of me beating them to the action." Enzan gained his typical smug smile.

"Roger, Enzan – sama." Blues formed a smile as well.

"While you two sit idle, I'll jump back to fame." Enzan challenged.

He chuckled under his breath and looked amused…

11:05 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… I could stand here and stare at the city the whole day, really! This spot feels calm and disconnected…"

"Yeah. The cool part is that there are few buildings which really stand out and most buildings have a more normal height…"

"This what makes Barcelona different from skyscraper-filled metropolis across the world, you see!"

The twins and Mr. Denpa were standing within an observation area somewhere which looked like the slope of a mountain: some picnic tables were set close to them as well as a small building: a sand ramp led to a pathway heading both west and east: several trees and plants grew around the area and the sky was clear blue.

"This is the Oreneta Castle Park… "Oreneta" could be translated as "Swallow"…" Mr. Denpa announced.

"Wasn't there a guy named Swallow Man?" Netto recalled.

"Oh. True. He did break into the Mother Computer some months ago, back around January…" Saito muttered.

"Oh. That guy… He was arrested and is isolated in the Navi Prison. He had a lot of skeletons on his closet. But let's try to…"

Netto's Link PET suddenly rang and he picked it up: Enzan showed up onscreen with his typical smug smile.

"Enzan? Did you find El Dorado's treasure or what?" Netto asked with a grin.

"No. I found one of the conspirers… Blast Man EXE…"

"Blast Man EXE? Sorry. First time hearing it…"

"Anyway… We drove the jerk off, but he looked like a red herring to mislead us… Something about his talk reeked."

"Hmmm…" Saito looked interested.

"The jerk took a while to notice who I was: he then began to get desperate and wish he hadn't challenged me." Blues detailed.

"So true! Say… Did he look that he was hard to chew and that he didn't really use his whole potential?" Saito asked.

"Correct."

"Did he give out any hints?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"He talked about a "founder", they are the "believers", and they seem to "believe" they can take control of Network Society in less than a week from now… Somehow… It didn't sound like a bluff." Enzan told them.

"And it isn't. They could do it." Mr. Denpa announced.

"What? Eh… Mr. Denpa. Do you know something about them, sir?"

"Chief Lezareno sent me a report this morning… It was very sketchy because he didn't trust sending confidential material over long distances and such he kept it very sketchy: but he says they could do that. Regarding the _how_… I don't know that." Mr. Denpa explained.

"Hum. Is there any way I could get into direct contact with him?"

"He unusually requested to not to contact him for a while: it'd seem he's working in the field and doesn't want to be interrupted."

"Ah. Then I won't chase it. But it would be good if we could have some hints to work with, too."

"I will try to contact him about that but we are quite glad of allowing you gentlemen to take all the credit… Didn't we allow you gentlemen to catch Dr. Wily and Dr. Regal, after all?"

"You have a point, sir. I won't complain. Well then… Maybe Akashi has found something, too… I'll talk with him. Later."

"Beware of the dummy TIE fleet." Saito joked.

"I'll slice them up." Blues grinned.

"Sure thing." Netto grinned.

The call ended: Netto placed the Link PET on the arm-strap while Saito looked thoughtful.

"So, they _can_ control Network Society… But we're missing the _how_."

"Wait a minute… This is happening in Cyber City, right? Then… Crap. So that's how it is about… It makes sense… But… The safety device… There's gotta be an insider there, then…" Mr. Denpa suddenly mumbled aloud as if he'd realized something important.

"Is there something like a weapon of mass doom there?" Netto asked.

"Yeah. Something similar to that… But the security should be too high for any Navi, no matter how powerful they are, to break through… Unless there was someone in the inside…" Mr. Denpa replied.

"In the city council…?" Saito grasped.

"Correct… And I wouldn't be surprised if Chief Lezareno is already investigating over there."

"Whoa. Investigating the city council from the inside…! That sounds like a spy movie!" Netto whistled in surprise.

"Movies always deform reality: it's usually a dull and tedious job which requires patience and time. Chief Lezareno has had plenty of experience, and given his former Ameroupe governmental agency experience then he can handle it quite well."

"FBI?" Saito asked.

"Think what you want." Mr. Denpa shrugged.

"The timing strikes at me, though." Netto brought up.

"Whoever is behind it timed it to happen while you and Rock Man were away: he surely didn't think the other Officials and Net Saviors plus the "Hunters' Guild"… If he thought he was safe, then our Mr. Conspirer will soon find that he'll be calling upon an unstoppable investigation upon his sweating hide." Mr. Denpa smiled.

The twins chuckled at the joke…


	5. Chapter 5: Unleashed aquarium

**Chapter 5: Unleashed aquarium**

18:23 PM (Japan Time), Sunday July the 23rd…

"… What? Blast Man ran away? The idiot! He acted out of orders again and he could've blow the whole thing away! If you see him, then go ahead and delete that useless grunt: this is the last time I hire a Navi who abandoned his Operator! Get it!"

"Y-yes, Founder – sama…!"

"Good! Later!"

The conspirer man tossed a Link PET atop a desk in a violent manner as if proving he was angered.

"And the one who did it was THE ace Official Net Battler…! Who the hell told them to show up in MY territory? Then again… I've got no control over what the ONBA or the Net Police do…! Che!"

The man headed over to the bookcase behind him and picked a book off it which he opened and revealed a compartment which was hiding a gun inside of it: he picked it and checked it.

_SA1911 caliber 45 7 bullets… This should be enough to deal with anyone trying to snoop into MY affairs… I suspect they've already placed one of them inside of this place… I won't make it easy for them._

The desk's phone rang and the man gasped: he quickly checked a list of LED indicators with a number.

_Line 8… External number? Impossible! No – one has this number! No – one should be able to directly dial here skipping the call central altogether! The Net Police…? The Officials…? Fine! I'll play along! They can't possibly suspect ME of all people!_

He picked the receiver and cleared his throat before sitting down on the chair and making a forced smile.

"Good morning. Whom am I speaking with?"

"Zataki Tosho, sir."

"I am afraid I know no Zataki Tosho."

"I am not surprised, sir."

"Then, wouldn't that mean you dialed a mistaken number?"

"Not really, sir. You don't know about me, sir, but I do know what you're up to given the incident which took place a little while ago, sir."

"Who the… Who are you lowlife?" The man hissed.

"Zataki Tosho, sir."

"Fine! I'll have your head in a silver platter!"

"I am not easily intimated by someone in a fit of rage, sir."

"You've gotta be a dog of the Net Police!"

"No. I work on my own."

"What?"

"And regarding evidence… I have more than enough. Your beloved "believers" just got a visit from one of my agents. I then used my informatics skills to get this number and dial directly here."

"Why, you…!"

"But since I work in an unconventional manner… I shall not hand this evidence yet."

"Blackmailing me?"

"No. Warning you, sir. Once you stick your arm outta the window, the Net Police and the Officials will find out the rest on their own. I am merely going to drain your resources until you are left cornered between the wall and the sword." The caller continued.

"Why, you…!"

"Farewell."

The conspirer made a grimace and cursed under his breath…

11:44 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Wow. That mountain was really interesting! We saw miniature trains and we even rode on them… Cool!"

"Yeah! Guess this is why Denpa – san picked it as the first spot we'd get to visit of the city…"

"We're now going to walk down a portion of the Diagonal Avenue. It's the main nexus of the city which houses a lot of important buildings. The university campus is located near the entrance of the city, and so are several shopping centers. But given how today is a Sunday, most of them are closed. Nevertheless, Diagonal Avenue is a spot preferred by pedestrians, sportsmen and bikers."

The twins and Mr. Denpa were walking down the Diagonal Avenue while the twins looked around: several persons were also walking it up and down while others sat on benches set within small squares to take a break from their walking, running or cycling.

"By the way… Is Vadous – san working on this, too?" Netto inquired.

"I'm not sure, really. I thought he was supposed to take a break under suggestion from Dr. Lartes… But given his usually hyperactive personality, he's most likely requested and read Chief's report by now. Maybe one of the _Three Musketeers_ has seized more information by now regarding whom we are dealing with… But it'd seem it's just one big boss commanding the grunts."

"Typical." Saito shrugged.

"Maybe Hiro will beat Enzan to the next grunt. And Enzan will claim that's impossible coming from a rookie." Netto suddenly joked.

"Given the right conditions and the circumstances even rookies can emulate veterans." Mr. Denpa suddenly suggested with a curious smile on his face.

"So true." Both grinned.

Mr. Denpa looked towards the sky and formed a smug smile…

18:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Okay. One minute ago all was normal. I look away for a second and, suddenly, all animals have run outta their cages. Just what the heck is going on and how do we solve it?"

"Hmmm… It'd seem someone took over the main computer. And, seemingly, there's a chime system to call the animals back to their cages used for lunch times…"

A teen guy was standing inside of a corridor somewhere: he looked slightly over a meter and fifty tall.

His hair's color was jet black and it was totally messy (similar to Netto's) while his eyes' irises were blue.

He sported a reddish sleeveless vest over a black shirt and jeans plus black sneakers.

He also carried a Link PET the emblem of which was the lowercase _delta_ character painted silver and set against a black background: the PET's colors were red and white.

"Fan-tas-tic. I come here as a tourist and this happens. I guess it's a reminder that Net Saviors work even in summer. And now I, Akashi Hiro, gotta sweat to solve this crazy mess." He muttered with a hint of sarcasm and defeatism.

"Come on, Hiro – kun…" A voice rang out through the Link PET.

"Got any ideas, Delta?" Akashi Hiro asked him.

The Navi projected out of the Link PET.

His face looked strikingly similar to Rock Man's although he had some slight differences regarding the eyes' irises (which were blue) and the shape of his cheek bones.

Some jet black hair came out from behind the helmet as well.

His main body color was jet black while his forearms, boots, shoulder plates, rear-pack and helmet were painted silver.

His emblem was the same _delta_ character set on his chest and ear-pads: the central part of his helmet had a murkier silver color to it plus two rectangles and one band cutting across it starting at the back.

Overall, he looked extremely similar to Rock Man and seemed to be around his height as well.

"Mwah, hah, hah, hah! This place was so boring! And to think they fired the great me 'cause I tried to make it more exciting… Hah! Take this one on for a change, grunts!" A manly voice rang out further ahead.

"Guess that's the culprit. Let's go say hi and bye."

"Don't overdo it either, Hiro – kun."

He ran inside of a room having a large set of consoles built atop a platform: sea water flowed through canals around the structure and a man's figure could be seen messing with the computer.

"Oi! Net Saviors! You're fired!" Hiro exclaimed as he displayed his Net Savior emblem.

"What the… Net Saviors, ya say? How did they find the great me so easily?" The man cursed.

He turned around to face Hiro: the man looked around a meter and seventy tall and over his 30s, maybe closer to his 40s.

He had a moustache plus two patches of beard on the SE and SW corners of his chin.

His hair was brownish-colored and came out from beneath a sailor's cap in a messy manner while extending across half of his back.

The man wore a sailor's cap, a red and white stripped sleeveless shirt plus a pair of blue shorts complimented with black leather boots and shoulder straps.

His right shoulder had a tattoo depicting the shape of a dolphin drawn into it while his hands were covered by white gloves.

"What! A gnat! What are ya doin' here?" The man cursed.

"Told ya, ugly. I'm the Net Savior in charge. You're fired. Vulcan Raven is about to challenge you to the Alaskan Ear-Pull." Hiro grinned.

"Gotta guts to challenge Captain Kurohige – sama and Dive Man! Say it, Dive Man!"

"De a~ru! Correct, Captain! De a~ru!" A Navi's voice exclaimed.

"Why are ya doing this?" Hiro demanded.

"Hah! This place was boring! And I'm bored of having to wait for the "D-Day" thing! I wanna have a thrill! Founder – sama can go to Hell with an elevator: I couldn't care less!" Kurohige boasted.

"Rebel type, huh… Well then… Bring out the FAMAS." Hiro suddenly challenged with a grin.

"What FAMAS?" Kurohige asked.

"Ask Meryl." Hiro asked.

"Who the heck is that?"

"Hiro – kun… I doubt that guy knowing even what "Metal Gear" means to begin with…" Delta rolled his eyes.

"O. K.! Let's go _Ocelot style_!" Hiro grinned.

"O-oi! What are you going to do?" Delta gasped.

Hiro picked the Link PET by the edges and spun it around his hand before aiming the Plug – In port at the computers.

"Yessir! Plug In! Delta, Transmission!"

"What!"

Delta entered the "Cybernetics" of the control system and ran ahead: he soon stepped into a square where someone seemed to be waiting: he lifted his eyebrows.

"De a~ru… Captain! Target sighted!"

"Sink it, Dive Man!"

"Roger, de a~ru!"

"So! You're Dive Man?" Delta guessed.

"Correct, de a~ru!"

"What's you guys' goal?" Delta questioned.

"Dunno, de a~ru!"

Dive Man was a Navi standing over a meter and seventy tall.

His head was shaped like a submarine's "sail", including a periscope and two diving planes plus the ear-pads: his face was set on the front of it and consisted in just the eyes and the mouth: he held a pipe on his mouth which emitted smoke like a real one.

His upper torso was shaped like a submarine which covered the body until the waist: his forearms also had fins on them while his hands were covered in the typical white skin.

His legs ended up in circle-shaped metallic objects painted navy blue plus two capsule-like objects covering them below the knees: each "capsule" had a fin facing outwards: the legs over the knees were colored black.

Overall, he looked like a combination between a submarine and a veteran sailor.

"You don't know, eh? No problem, then. I'll beat ya and then the Net Police will get the data from your body." Delta smiled.

"Leave it up to Otacon and his hacker skills." Hiro grinned.

"Dunno who that jerk is, but a gnat won't be able to stand up to me and Dive Man's combination! Go for it, Dive Man!"

"Roger, de a~ru!"

"Battle Operation, Set!"

"In!"

"Dive Bomb!"

Dive Man opened his main body's front compartment and threw three bombs towards Delta: he shot three precise shots which intercepted it and then ran towards Dive Man.

"Battle Chip, Elec Sword! Slot In!"

Dive Man suddenly closed two hatches in front of his face and made his legs and arms compact to form a real submarine's shape: he fell inside of the water and Delta gasped.

"What! He can submerge?"

"Smart Missile!"

Two missiles formed and flew towards Delta: he used the Elec Sword to slice them off and detonate them: Dive Man emerged and lifted his arms.

"Tsunami!"

"Whoa!"

"Area Steal!"

Delta warped and reappeared atop Dive Man: he wasted no second and plunged the Elec Sword into the periscope before jumping away and leaving the detached sword there: electricity traveled across Dive Man's body while Delta landed atop a control console: Dive Man ran.

"Heh! No big deal!" Hiro grinned.

"I don't think the same…" Delta muttered.

"No way!" Kurohige gasped.

"Game Over: the Hind D swept the ground with ya on it."

"A captain usually sinks with the ship… This captain would prefer to jump out before that happens! Have at ya!"

Kurohige suddenly picked his Link PET, stuffed it inside a hermetic case, pocketed it, and dived into the water to then swim out: Hiro laughed.

"Oi! Ya forgot the SDV to deliver ya to Shadow Moses Island's dock! Hah!"

12:13 PM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Yo! Guys!"

"Hiro! What a coincidence. We were talkin about ya."

"No wonder."

"So?"

"Captain Kurohige and Dive Man EXE… Didn't say much but hinted at some "D-Day" and a guy named "Founder"… The same guy who Blast Man talked about, I guess…"

"What became of the man?"

"Oh. Denpa – san. He jumped into the seawater and ran away sans the need of an SDV."

"SDV…? Ah. Swimmer Delivery Vehicle… I see."

"So, Delta?"

"One Elec Sword and the tale ended. The guy could become a submarine and attack me, too."

Netto, Saito and Mr. Denpa were talking with Hiro and Delta over the Link PET while resting in one bench inside of a large garden.

"So, it's confirmed… Blast Man's claims and this man's claims hint at this "D-Day" being very close… And I don't believe this tale of the fake World Fair tickets anymore, either. Mr. Conspirer surely spread them in person to confuse us." Mr. Denpa announced.

"Sure thing… I'm going back to my hotel room: it's almost supper time and I wanna have a shower before going have supper…" Hiro trailed off while making a smile.

"No." Delta suddenly told him.

"Ya can't stand seeing my cool manly chest, eh, Delta?"

"Jeez. That's not legal."

"Ya sound like a prosecutor…"

"Oh. I'm so afraid, really." Delta looked unimpressed.

"Man. Ms. Moon doesn't scare ya anymore?" Hiro asked.

"Who isn't scared of that thing?" Delta shot back.

"Heh, heh, heh." Hiro chuckled.

"Well then… I guess Mr. Conspirer is about to throw a chair at someone out of frustration: two agents taken down in less than 3 hours between them… He'll be drinking green tea non-stop to try to calm down." Mr. Denpa suggested.

"Oho. Terrific." Netto grinned.

"Sure thing… The guy must've fired those two already and will eventually end up having to try to scare everyone on his own when his "D-Day" comes…" Saito giggled.

"Disaster Day!" Delta announced.

"Wonderful!" Hiro's grin got wider.

"Good job." Mr. Denpa congratulated.

"Thanks, Ocelot – sama." Hiro chuckled.

"True, true. Call me if you need an impersonation."

"Delighted."

"Jeez. Those two are hardcore fans." Delta rolled his eyes.

"Next time borrow a Copy Roid and pull Hiro – kun's ears."

"I'm so gonna do that, really."

"Crap." Netto grimly muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Amusing…" Mr. Denpa chuckled.

He, Saito and Delta chuckled or giggled while both Netto and Hiro sighed in defeat…


	6. Chapter 6: Impatience

**Chapter 6: Impatience**

21:55 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday July the 26th…

"… So! I hope you have an update!"

"Y-yes, s-sir! We've g-gathered over 95% of the necessary energy thanks to the agent, sir… But we could gain the rest in a simpler manner if we could get the "Force Program" lodged in Sky Town, then…"

"Out of question! That program is what keeps the whole thing afloat and provides the necessary energy to create the "air bubble" around it to allow people to breathe normally. Ruled out!"

"R-roger, sir… Well… At this rate… Another three to four Navis like we've been doing would be enough… The rumors about 50% discount World Fair tickets are good bait to lure them out…"

"Hmpf. I knew it'd work out."

The conspirer was sitting on the chair behind his office desk and speaking with someone over the Link PET.

"T-then, sir… W-we'll continue as w-we were…"

"What's wrong with you? You sound strange."

"N-nerves, I t-think, sir…"

"Hmpf. Whatever. Do what you're supposed to do."

"R-roger, sir."

"And remember: Sky Town is out of the question! It wouldn't fit with my plans!"

"R-roger, sir."

"Move your useless hide!"

"R-roger, sir!"

"And I want this to be ready in the next 24 hours! Friday is the "D-Day" and we MUST be ready! Get it! Over!"

The man tossed the PET in a violent manner atop the desk while looking fed up: he grumbled something under his breath and then checked a drawer where his gun was hidden at.

"If it's not a worker here or my new bodyguard, I'm gonna shoot first and then question. This thing has a silencer, so… And I can always get rid of them using the secret passage into the World Fair complex, too…"

He shrugged and closed the drawer before seemingly trying to regain his composure and opening another drawer to take an agenda out.

"… Another meeting with the council tomorrow morning… And they still want to argue if we should place higher security on the Copy Roids… Hmmm… I guess everyone would be angered if we didn't prevent "criminals" from harming the citizens, so… Let's actually do something about it this time around: it'll help win some points in the opinion polls and more chances of a re-election when this office period ends in November…" The man muttered aloud.

He formed a smug smile and then leant back on the chair as if thinking about something.

"Hah. What a bunch of fools! There they go with their "scapegoats" and they always do the correct thing… No… What happened to "Forte" was one thing, yet they committed the same mistake! Always place the blame on what's different or who came up with the idea… Fools! Idiots! Jerks! Grunts! I'll show you… I'll definitely show you… How I will overcome you inferior existences and annihilate you!"

The man suddenly laughed aloud in a jovial tone before a beep from the Link PET interrupted him: he quickly got annoyed and looked at the PET's screen.

"What! Email from that "Zataki Tosho" man… "Go ahead. You'll make things easier for us, Mr. Conspirer." … How dare you! Laughing at MY face like that… I'll find out who you lowlife are and destroy you lowlife! Just you wait!" The conspirer roared.

He cursed under his breath…

14:55 PM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Wow. What nerves!"

"Heh, heh, heh."

"I think it's coming over here."

"Really?"

"Don't jump off the seat, Netto – kun."

The twins and Mr. Denpa were sitting in chairs around a table place inside of a plastic-tent-like structure: many tables were set around there and the room looked busy with waiters going up and down: Netto looked nervous and eager while Saito and Mr. Denpa were calm enough.

"Here you have: the fish _paella_."

"Whoa~!"

Netto's mouth watered while Saito looked interested at the _paella_ laid out in front of them: it looked exquisite.

"Paella...! What when I tell Dekao: he'll be left with his jaw hitting the floor!" Netto laughed.

"And Meiru – chan will remind him to work on the Gorilla Idiom – Japanese Dictionary." Saito grinned.

"Oho. Terrific." Mr. Denpa grinned.

The waiter served the rice in three dishes which he handed out before walking away: Netto quickly picked the utensils and began to look at them as if trying to figure how to use them.

"Maybe you need me to explain?" Mr. Denpa offered.

"Eh… Guess so…" Netto admitted.

"Please." Saito politely requested.

"They're used for the lobster and shrimps… Even the claws have meat inside, so… Enjoy."

"_Itadakimasu_~!"

The three of them ate in silence while Netto looked totally awed: Saito made a grin and seemed to be up to something while Mr. Denpa lifted his eyebrows slightly.

"A~h… This is Paradise!" Netto exclaimed.

"Paella Man strikes from the NW flank." Saito warned.

Netto suddenly looked over there while Saito giggled: Netto gasped and faced Saito with a slightly annoyed face.

"No fair, niisan! Ya startled me!"

"All's fair is startling, Netto – kun."

"Did Forte say that, too?"

"Nope. I patented that."

"Oh, patenting patent of patents…" Mr. Denpa joked.

"Not again…" Netto rolled his eyes.

"So, this port area was boosted by the '92 Olympics?" Saito switched topics with a smile.

"Correct. The whole city got a powerful boost, including the completion of the expressways and the facilities on Montjüic, too…"

"We'll go visit those?" Netto eagerly asked.

"Of course. We can use the aerial cable car: there's a lot of interesting stuff over there!"

"Such as…?" Saito asked.

"Such as the Picasso Museum, the Olympic Stadium, Sports Museum, the castle… To mention the most relevant ones."

"Whoa. We'll have plenty of stuff to check out!" Netto grinned.

"Sure." Saito smiled.

"Ah. Here comes the salad… It's good to eat salad because it brings balance to your meals…" Mr. Denpa announced.

"Hmmm… Salad…" Netto looked yummy.

"Salad Man attacks from the SE flank!" Saito warned.

"Wha!" Netto gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh."

"No fair! Ya got me twice in a row!" He groaned.

"Come up with a secret scheme." Saito challenged.

"I'll make a mess of your hair." Netto warned.

"Oho. Then there'd be no telling us apart once I put on contacts as well, Netto – kun." Saito looked amused.

"… Maybe that isn't a good idea…" Netto grimly muttered.

"Brilliant deduction, Watson." Saito joked next.

"Oi, oi… I don't have anything to do with Watson. Besides, Enzan already acts like Holmes."

"He has a magnifying glass hidden on his desk, then."

"Dunno."

"Heh, heh, heh, heh. I suspect we'll get some news today regarding developments in Cyber City…" Saito grinned.

"No doubt… Chief Lezareno told me to expect them, too." Mr. Denpa admitted with a casual smile.

"Mr. Conspirer will hire Tom Cruise for the next stunt, then." Netto came up with a joke.

"But Cruise won't understand the conspirer and will go back to Hollywood in the 4:44 PM plane from Haneda." Saito added.

The three of them laughed in a jovial manner…

21:38 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Hah! Founder – sama says we don't need this stuff, but who cares if this thing goes down? I've got a parachute to jump off and there's no – one onboard, anyway! The ends justify the means! I'll prove that I'm better than that circus-something woman!"

A man was standing inside of a metallic corridor somewhere and looking at a metallic-colored Link PET: he was on his 30s and seemed to be over a meter and seventy tall.

The man had blackish messy hair the shape of which was reminiscent of a cloud: his eyes had thick eyebrows over them and he was grinning.

He sported a white shirt with water drops painted on it at random plus greenish jeans and blackish boots: he also wore an open blue raincoat with some red edges.

A circle had been drawn on the right sleeve below the shoulder: it had six small circles colored red, blue, white, gray, green and yellow inside of it plus a white rim.

Lastly, he had a pair of smoked sunglasses over his forehead.

"Oi! Element Man! How's it going?"

"PIKARIKA… PUKURIKURA…" A distorted voice replied.

"Huh… "Fine, sir… I have cracked the 3rd security level: two more to go before I can steal the Force Program, Nyuudou Tsuyuharu – sama"… Good job!" The man grinned as he read something on his PET's screen.

"Grawl…" A voice growled.

"What… A guardian dog…?" Nyuudou grumbled.

"Wrong. My pet." A second voice replied.

"Who the hell are ya?" He demanded.

"Mr. Universe." The newcomer shot back.

"What?"

"Kidding." The newcomer sounded amused.

"Who the hell are ya?"

"Ask Demon God – sama."

"What the… A freak with a cloak and some kind of dog… Ya can't stand up to Element Man!" Nyuudou proclaimed.

"Maybe if I tell you my name's _Forte_ then ya will think otherwise?"

"What! You're THE Forte?" Nyuudou gasped.

"Yeah. Say hi to Gospel Jr."

"Grawl! Grrr!"

Forte and "Gospel Jr." were standing inside of the "Cybernetics" the background of which was decorated with weather symbols: they were facing a Navi standing in front of a control console.

"So, cha are Element Man?" Forte asked.

"PIKURIKA… KAKURIPA…"

"You're gonna delete me? Bring it on."

Element Man was a tall Navi (over a meter and eighty) colored purple: his main body's shape was that of a short cylinder plus a dome: his emblem (the one Nyuudou sported on his jacket) was set on the middle of a black cross. The dome-shaped part of his upper body had a magenta-like line drawn across it which formed the shape of the Alphabet letter "V" directly over the vertical stroke of the cross.

His head was shape like a dome colored golden: his green eyes were set inside of a black-colored space while two white vertical "horn" extensions formed at the sides of it: he had no visible nose or mouth, curiously enough.

His arms were thick while the forearms had three bands of magenta-colored circles set on them: his shoulders had two white cone-like extensions coming out of them.

His legs ended in two inverted-dome-shaped feet while the part below the knees had a general cone-like shape to them together with a small oval-shaped metallic slit on the front edge plus two magenta stripes: two metallic diamonds covered the knees: another two thin magenta stripes were placed on the hips and then the legs fused into a thin waist underneath the main body.

A metallic ring having six spheroids set on it hovered behind Element Man's body: the colors and order were the same as in the chest emblem: red, blue, white, gray, green and yellow.

"Go, Element Man! Fire Mode!"

The red spheroid shone and Element Man's color palette switched to red: he then aimed his hands towards Forte: some meteors materialized on the sky and fell towards Forte: he shrugged as his "Dream Aura" formed around his frame thus making the meteors bounce off.

"Is that all?" He taunted.

"Che! Water Mode!"

Element Man's second spheroid rotated to the left thus displacing the red spheroid and all others one position to the left: his body turned blue and he then aimed his hands at the ground thus forming Ice Panels on it: Forte shrugged again and began to hover over the ground.

"Cheap, cheap, totally cheap…" He taunted with a grin.

"Che! Wind Mode!"

The third spheroid activated and Element Man gained a white-like color to his frame: he summoned two small tornadoes which bounced off Forte's Dream Aura as he hummed a tune.

"The "Encounter" BGM from _MGS_ is cool." He merely commented.

"Nya~h! Skip normal mode: go for Wood Mode!"

Element Man switched to the green spheroid to form Wood Towers: they also weren't able to piece through the Dream Aura.

"Thunder Mode!"

Element Man finally used the yellow spheroid to make thunderbolts rain down around Forte: he suddenly extended his right forearm out of the Dream Aura and absorbed the attack which he shot at "Gospel Jr." all of a sudden: the beast formed an electrical arc around his neck's crown before opening the mouth and bathing Element Man in green-colored flames which swept the ground.

"KUWA~H!" He shrieked.

He was logged out and Nyuudou's jaw hit the floor: Forte merely shrugged and checked on the console.

"Your turn, Colonel." He suddenly announced.

"_Where_ might _you_ be _going to_? _Comrade_?" A voice boomed out of nowhere.

"Yikes! W-who the…?" Nyuudou gasped.

A man walked over to him coming out of the shade: he looked on his late forties: his hair was grey and parts of it fell down in the front of the face and he seemed to be missing his left eye as well.

He was dressed in a grey army uniform, although the area around the sleeves and neck was colored in a reddish patch.

He had a distinction on the right side of the uniform just underneath the right shoulder and was smiling.

He was also holding a strange artifact on his right hand which seemed to be some kind of dagger: it had a central handle that was in the shape of a cylinder: two curved daggers sprouted from each end, each facing an opposite direction.

Some strange patterns were carved on each dagger's face.

"W-who the…!"

"Talos. Colonel Talos."

"M-military!"

"Former. But it matters not, _Comrade_. These gentlemen will take care of the formal proceedings…" Colonel Talos smiled.

"Freeze! Drop the PET! Lift your hands!"

Two policemen ran in while having drawn their service revolvers: Nyuudou gasped and dropped the PET from the surprise: one of the policemen then handcuffed him.

"Nyuudou Tsuyuharu! You're under arrest for intending to steal Sky Town's Force Program and bring it down! Take him away!" A police inspector which had come in announced.

The policemen escorted Nyuudou out while carrying his PET: the inspector talked with Colonel Talos.

"Thank you for the tip, sir. We've prevented a major catastrophe."

"Oh. Please. The credit goes to _Comrade_ Forte for stopping the Net Navi from stealing the Force Program." Colonel Talos calmly replied.

"If you say so…"

"Well then… I'm gonna go tell the guys. How many of these grunts should be left, though?" Forte announced before asking.

"Hmmm… According to Chief Lezareno's report, one should be left… But maybe we could allow our "special guest" to handle it?" Colonel Talos amusedly suggested.

"… Oho. Sure thing! Let's allow him to shine." Forte grinned.

"_Comrade_ Conspirer must be about to destroy something at this rate so let us put some more "pressure" into him…" Colonel Talos announced with a smile.

"By all means…" Forte chuckled.

"Grawl."

"Oh. And he agrees too. Heh, heh, heh."

21:55 PM (Japan Time)…

"… WHAT? Nyuudou did WHAT?"

"It's l-like you'd h-heard, sir…"

"Tell him he's fired!"

"But the police already got him… And apparently, THE Forte got involved into this, too…"

"WHAT? FORTE? A BILLION BLUE BLISTERING BARNACLES!"

The conspirer was obviously enraged as he sat up from a bed inside of a room and answered to a call: he'd obviously been woken up right at that moment.

"W-what do…?"

"Keep at it! D – Day is in Friday's dawn! Tell _those two_ to be on standby and don't take an eye off them! This is the last time I hire people without carrying out background checks! Che!" The conspirer growled.

"R-roger, sir…!"

The man tossed the Link PET away while he growled under his breath: he looked about to destroy something in a fit of rage.

"Officials, Net Saviors, Forte…! You lowlifes…! I'll definitely destroy each and every one of you with my "secret weapons"! Laugh at me while you can, you lowlifes! You lowlifes' doom is imminent! NOTHING can stop me from destroying you lowlifes! Hah! Take that!" He roared.

He grabbed a wooden chair and made it hit the floor with violence, thus breaking it: he kicked it away and looked psychotic.

"These fits of anger don't suit me, but…! Grah! I won't let those idiots get away with insulting _that person_ back then! I'll definitely blow you into pieces which I'll toss into the bottom of the ocean…!"

The man sat down on the bed while fuming and cursing.

_My anger shall be terrible~!_

15:08 PM (Barcelona Time)…

"… So, Forte… That guy was named Element Man?"

"Yessir. Fire, water, wind, neutral, wood, thunder… Those were his elements. But I installed "Gospel Jr." with a function to create a counter attack of the opposing element upon being hit by one."

"Grawl."

"Neat."

Netto and Saito were talking with Forte as they were walking across the sea line and glancing at the beaches full of people: Mr. Denpa looked interested by the information.

"And he was trying to steal a powerful program which is capable of keeping a whole facility in the air 24/7… Guess those guys wanna rush up the energy gathering they're working on." Forte explained.

"No wonder… "D – Day" is supposed to be Friday's dawn… In Japan time, though… It'd been late evening of Thursday for us…" Mr. Denpa muttered aloud.

"What if we wait for the very last moment and then let our "special guest" jump into the picture? We'd then allow the _Three Musketeers_ to beat down those "Believers" guys and the Navis which ran away…" Forte suggested a course of action.

"Ah. That'd be thrilling… Let us abide by it."

"Let's show them they messed with the wrong guys."

"Mr. Trouble will show up to remind them of their troubles, too."

"Heh, heh, heh. I got the go-ahead from Serenade, too, so… _It's party time_!" Forte exclaimed.

"Yahoo~!" The twins giggled.

"Heh, heh, heh. Their end is close."

The whole group formed grins and chuckled…


	7. Chapter 7: Anti climax

**Chapter 7: Anti-climax**

06:08 AM (Japan Time), Friday July the 28th…

"… O. K., Circus Man! Execute the strategy."

"Fu-ru-ru-ru! Leave it up to me, Chirol!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Remember: make sure to absorb the two "pets" which will come out and run away. Then the strategy will be a success!"

"Fu-ru-ru-ru! Roger!"

A girl was looking at a reddish-colored Link PET while sitting next to a desk having a computer atop it placed somewhere.

She looked on her late 20s and seemed to be slightly lower than a meter and seventy tall: she had black hair which spread into two "tails" while his eyes' irises were colored brown.

An orange-colored heart was drawn on her right cheek and she also carried two white-colored sphere-shaped pendants which had a clown-like face drawn on them.

She sported a red dress with white circles over its surface, purple short pants, black and white stripped stockings, red shoes, and a short black jacket over her shoulders and covering her arms which was open.

The wrist area's cloth color was purple.

"Tee, heh, heh. Founder – sama is a genius, really!"

"Fu – ru –ru – ru!"

The Navi being displayed over the PET had a clown-like shape and didn't seem to be much taller than the woman.

He had a vertical stripes shirt with green vertical stripes colored either green or deep green: two round white buttons were set on the middle.

His face was a clown's face: his eyes were shaped like blue stars; he had a red nose and wide lips while his "skin" was colored white. A golden arch was drawn around the face together with a round spot on the forehead: He sported a clown's cap with two yellowish spheres attached to the ends of the cap.

His body was big and fatty: he sported black-colored pants below the shirt: his emblem was placed below the shirt.

Curiously enough, he had _four_ hands which had a dome-shaped yellow extension past the wrist, red armlets and white gloves: another two dome-shaped spots colored in a brownish color were set where the shoulders would be at.

He wore reddish shoes having a stripe around the part where the feet's fingers should start at: the stripe was colored brown and had yellow triangles drawn on it aiming upwards.

"Fu-ru-ru-ru! Circus Man can handle any animal! Right, Chirol?"

"Yeah! Go for it!"

"Fu-ru-ru!"

Circus Man was standing at edge of a large and deep abyss inside of somewhere in the Cyber World: its walls were colored purple and a faint glow of the same color shone from its unseen depths: something about it gave off an eerie vibe.

"Fu-ru-ru! Founder – sama was able to switch the protection off, so we can toss the energy down there to allow for the "pets" to wake up: we then catch them and run off!" Circus Man exclaimed.

"… That's as far as you go." A manly voice rang out.

"What?" Chirol gasped.

"Who…?" Circus Man demanded.

Someone very fast jumped across the abyss and landed in front of Circus Man while quickly cutting the air with a sword-like weapon: his four hands were destroyed and he was then kicked on the upper chest: Circus Man lost balance and fell on the ground on a face-up position: a sword was then aimed at his face.

"Your plot ends here and now. Why do you think you could finish gathering the energy? We allowed you guys to build up confidence to then shatter it in one instant."

"W-who the heck are ya?" Chirol demanded.

"My name is Zero."

"The Zero Virus!"

"Wrong. I was. I've been reborn as a Net Navi under the command of the Science Labs." Zero replied.

"S-science Labs…!" Chirol gasped.

"Freeze!" Two voices rang out.

Chirol gasped and turned around to see two police officers and one police inspector in the room: she quickly lifted her hands.

"You tried to steal two programs which have been declared "national threat" for your own profit and cooperated in crimes of Navi abduction to deplete their HP. Take her away." The inspector ordered.

Four Official Net Navis appeared around Circus Man.

"Cage Program: Start!"

A metallic cage formed around Circus Man: Zero folded his arms.

"No way! I'm the tamer! I'm the one taming the beasts!"

"Reversal of roles." Zero sarcastically told him.

"No way~!" Circus Man cursed.

The cage and the Officials warped out while Forte hovered towards Zero.

"What an anti-climax these guys have had!" He announced.

"True. I'm glad that I'm finally suited for field missions. Even if I didn't defeat this guy in battle, I brought him down nevertheless."

"Heh, heh, heh. The "Believers" and the two runaways are next."

06:18 AM (Japan Time)…

"… Founder – sama…!"

"What the hell happened?"

"The Officials stepped in at the very last moment and brought Circus Man down!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"We know, sir, but… It happened! What's more: it was Zero, the guy who'd been in control of the Zero Virus!"

"Bloody them!"

The conspirer got another fit of rage once he got a hold of the news: he looked psychotic again.

"W-what do we do, sir?" The caller asked.

"Can't be helped! If I can't control them… Then we'll unleash them! Let them run free again!"

"But it'd take considerable time for them to regain so much power and they could be brought down at the very moment they wake up if so many powerful Navis are around, sir…!"

"Hell! I hadn't thought of that one…! Che! A~h! I'm fed up with this whole tale already! Disband! Flee! Hide! Spread fear and chaos using the Viruses under your control! I won't go down without having brought fear to those fools out there!" The conspirer roared.

"R-roger, sir…"

The conspirer, as always, tossed the PET towards the ground in a fit of rage while he ran across the room uttering roars.

"Fools! Idiots! Imbeciles! Grunts! Silly-heads! Bothersome rubbish! I'll annihilate you lowlifes! Write your pathetic wills already: nothing will save you from my anger!"

_Destroy…! I'll destroy them all!_

10:10 AM (Barcelona Time)…

"… So, what's so special about this place?"

"It's my family apartment… That's where I used to live most of the year, obviously enough…"

"Cool…"

The twins and Mr. Denpa were standing inside of a small hall somewhere while the twins looked around.

The hall had four wooden apartment doors set on the north and south-facing walls, a cupboard on the left side of the left wall, a metallic frame door with an opaque glass plus a second opaque glass as its right, and two elevators doors set on the right wall.

"Wait a minute: I have to switch the alarm off."

Mr. Denpa unlocked one of the doors and stepped inside: the music of a radio could be heard plus a series of beep sounds which began to sound louder and their interval got shorter: there was a distinct beep followed by four quick beeps and one large final and flat beep.

"Come inside."

The twins stepped inside and looked around: the apartment had a main parquet-floor-holding corridor with white walls and ceiling extending all the length of it and facing east.

"Whoa."

The south-facing wall at their right had two cupboard doors built into it plus a door leading into another room: the left side had a shelf-like piece of furniture with small cupboards on it, too, plus the door into a second room.

"Ahem! Come over here: you have to take the shoes off before starting up our little tour visit, so..." Mr. Denpa called out from inside of the second room.

"Roger!"

The room was a kitchen the floor of which was made of grayish tiles: the walls were made of plastic and were colored white and so was the ceiling of the room.

The left side of the room next to the entrance had a blackish/grayish marble table set atop a metallic structure on it along with four chairs around it: a small lamp hung above it.

The right side had a tall white wooden bookcase with stuff piled up on its compartments.

Running parallel to each other were a series of overhead white wooden cupboards and marble shelves below them which extended towards the west.

A tall white fridge was placed to the bookcase's left: the right-side-shelf started past the fridge and had two overhead cupboards plus another two cupboards placed below them: the center point of the shelf had the iron stoves, the extractor bell and the electrical over built into it.

The left-side-shelf had a set of four drawers built beneath the overhead compartment housing a microwave heater plus a small cupboard above it: another four cupboards doors extended across it: two sinks were placed on the middle point with three cupboard doors extending below the shelf until they reached the place where the dish-washing machine was installed at.

"Whoa. Nice kitchen… The colors are perfect!" Netto exclaimed.

"Sure…"

There was a room built on the west end of the kitchen which had a metallic frame door with a transparent glass piece and two windows at its sides: this room had a window with moveable metallic slits set on the west-facing wall allowing light inside: the room had another shelf running across the left side of it and housed a water heater, a laundry machine and a drying machine plus two shelves and one cupboard: the right side didn't have anything in particular.

"Leave your shoes there and pick the slippers."

The twins calmly did as they were told and followed Mr. Denpa into the small room opposite the kitchen.

"The workspace…" He announced.

This room's right wall had a set of wooden bookcases running across it containing several CDs, books and other stuff.

The left wall had a transparent glass table with a metallic structure beneath it which housed a computer and its case together with a scanner and a printer.

The table set on the south-facing wall had another computer installed atop it plus some papers and other stuff.

Located at the left of the entrance were two cupboard doors as well which were currently closed: a window was set on the east-facing wall.

"So, this is where you work with the computers…" Netto muttered.

"I'm sure you'd like to have a room like this, Netto – kun…" Saito teased with a grin.

"Don't need it…" Netto grumbled.

"Heh, heh, heh. Ya can't stand my teasing arts…"

"Follow me, gentlemen."

They followed Mr. Denpa into the living room built occupying a good deal of the corridor's left side given how it had two large and wide entrances.

The first things to be seen were a drawer & cupboard set placed on the west-facing wall under a large canvas depicting a cavalry charge: close to it also were a round wooden table with a light set atop it and one window looking out into the rear area of the building.

"So, that table marks the dining room… It's gotta be bright!" Netto commented with a smile.

"Sure it is… As bright as Bright Man."

"Man."

"Not bad." Mr. Denpa complimented.

"Jeez."

"Let's see the rest, otouto – chan."

"Quit it already!"

Looking east, one could grasp the remainder of the living room: a large bookcase with drawers built into it occupied the wall adjacent to the corridor with a thinner and taller one standing opposite it: two yellow sofas were placed on the north-facing walls and at the eastern end of the room plus an LCD TV opposite the north-facing sofa.

The north-facing wall had a balcony built into it plus a large viewing window and a sliding balcony door.

"This living room looks colorful!"

"As colorful as Colored Man?"

"Not again!"

"Heh, heh, heh. Sometimes Net Navi names come in handy."

"Are ya gonna keep on teasing me for the remaining 14 days of our vacations here, too, Saito – niisan?" Netto questioned.

"Maybe."

Netto rolled his eyes while Mr. Denpa looked amused.

"Let's keep on… Five more rooms to check out."

They exited the living room through the second opening and walked up the corridor to check out a room placed mid-way across the right wall of the living room.

"_Check it out_, as Bright Man used to say, gentlemen." Mr. Denpa humorously invited.

"See? Denpa – san is on the league, too."

"Fan – tas – tic."

The room was a bathroom having the same tile combination as in the kitchen: the toilet was set facing east while the white marble sink with the mirror was opposite it: the south-facing wall had the bath tub plus shower built on it along with a window looking out into the inner yard.

"Four more rooms…"

They exited the bathroom and walked down the corridor to enter a room at the right in front of the second living room opening: it had a window on the south-facing wall, too, a desk occupying the length of it, a bed facing west and two cupboards on the eastern wall.

"The guest room… Three more rooms left."

"The decoration is nice, though." Netto grinned.

They exited the room and spotted something they'd skipped: a glass-walled cupboard with a wooden frame and having several models of photo cameras and video cameras inside.

"My father's: he practices photography as a hobby."

"Nice."

"Nice Man showed up!" Saito joked.

"That sounded weird, for once."

"Just for once?"

"… Nothing."

"Heh, heh, heh. Catching up, I see."

They entered the last room on the south-facing side of the corridor: this room had a small entrance corridor and two bunks built facing opposite directions along with a small cupboard on the left side: the whole set occupied the length of the south-facing wall.

The western wall had the window built on it plus a square desk set underneath it: a ledge ran across the length of the lower bed on the western wall, too.

The eastern wall had a large bookcase with books set on it while the northern wall had four cupboard doors built on it: three drawers were placed underneath the lower bed, too.

"This is my and my younger brother's bedroom… I usually slept on the upper bed."

"Wow. That bunk looks cool… I now wish I had one." Netto whistled in surprise.

"Ah. But then I'd be bombarding you with pillows from above, Netto – kun…" Saito teased.

"I get the point." He dully muttered.

"Tee, heh, heh. Pointing pointer of points…"

"The last two rooms are over here…"

They lastly headed to the room opposite this one: it was another bedroom having a king-sized bed and a large canvas overhead it, facing east, depicting a fisherman's village: the north wall had the continuation of the living room's balcony along with the sliding door: the west-facing wall contained four cupboards doors.

"My parents' bedroom…"

"That canvas looks similar to the one in the villa!" Netto exclaimed.

"True. They're the same artist: my parents knew him and usually go to art galleries to buy interesting canvases."

"Cool." Saito whistled in surprise.

"Last room!"

The last room was built on to the right of the entrance and it was a second bathroom having a yellowish color to it: the arrangement of the toilet, sink and bathtub was the same as in the other bathroom.

"Done! Let's head back: I got some news I want to tell you."

Both lifted their eyebrows in surprise…

10:39 AM (Japan Time)…

"… So, Denpa – san… What is the news? Wait! Today is a Friday! So! Does that mean that…?"

"Correct."

"Whoa!"

The twins and Mr. Denpa were walking away from a large building having a curved shape and several halls plus stores: it seemed to steadily drop down on top height as one walked past it.

"Mr. Zero intercepted a certain Circus Man and a lady clown named Chirol… They were trying to bring up "something" from Central City's Cyber World… Mr. Zero jumped in at the last second and they have been arrested. All that's left is to wrap up the runaway Navis and locate Mr. Conspirer." Mr. Denpa explained.

"And what's that "something", then?" Netto asked.

"Sorry, but I'd prefer to talk about it once the tale is over. I believe I can mount up a bit of teasing." Mr. Denpa grinned.

"As expected of Denpa – san…" Saito complimented.

"I believe those guys are going to get a surprise visit from the _Three Musketeers _soon enough… We're just waiting for them to gather up and then we'll bring them down like arranged bowls…"

"Nice analogy… I'd like to knock them down!" Netto grinned.

"Maybe Luck Man will knock at your PET's firewall?"

"… Sure thing." Netto shrugged.

"Let's hope it isn't Mujura's Mask, though." Saito teased.

"Yikes." Netto gasped.

"Heh, heh, heh. This vacation is getting cooler!" Saito giggled.

Mr. Denpa blinked them an eye and formed a grin…


	8. Chapter 8: Disbandment

**Chapter 8: Disbandment**

23:13 PM (Japan Time), Friday July the 28th…

"… So! We have gathered here to settle something: our new goal is to bring fear and chaos to the Network Society!"

"HORRAY!"

"Ho, ho, ho… That's the great me's style…"

"De a~ru… Captain Dive Man ready for action…"

"Hah! Take that. I'm so gonna shine."

"What a pity, because…"

"…this party…"

"…is over."

"W-who the…?"

"Guh! T-those guys…!"

"Oi! Who are those?"

"De a~ru! They seem powerful…"

"T-the _Tree Musketeers_…!"

"We're doomed…!"

"Run for it…!"

"Ya needn't tell me twice, Boss!"

"Hah! Run, you mice. The great I will burn these up."

"Kyah, hah, hah, hah, ha~h! A manly guy like me who's braved the seven seas won't be scared of three punks! Oi! Dive Man! Torpedo them and send them to rest in a watery grave!"

"Roger, de a~ru!"

"Ho, ho, ho… Come."

Blast Man, Dive Man and a bunch of Reverse Internet Net Navis had gathered in one square somewhere in the Reverse Internet: they'd been talking until someone made their appearance: the Reverse Internet Navis ran for it while Blast Man and Dive Man stayed behind to face three custom-looking Net Navis standing together forming a row.

"I'll go for the black one… Ho, ho, ho."

"Name's Sigma!"

Sigma was about two meters tall and colored jet black: a red spheroid could be seen set on his chest area.

His face had two red eyes and one shone brighter than the other: two horns, one of which was almost erased, were set on both sides of his head and added a "demonic" look to him.

His spheroid seemed to be missing the armor over its mass.

Green data flows moved around his body and he held a massive black and green sword in his right hand which was easily over a meter tall.

Overall, he seemed to be tall and imposing.

"De a~ru… The shorter one seems to be the lesser threat, Captain Kurohige!"

"Sink them!"

"So! You want to fight me, Blood Shadow? Come, then. I'll teach you about the extent of you guys' power."

Blood Shadow, on the other hand, looked about the same height as Rock Man or Delta: his main color of choice was red.

He sported black shades: a flock of messy reddish hair came out from behind the helmet given how it only covered the face and the front of the head: his ear-pads had two purple "V" letters drawn inside of them.

His armor had the purple letters "BS" engraved on the chest area while his legs were colored black and had two red stripes running down the legs' sides in a parallel manner.

His right forearm was covered by a device colored red coupled with a piece of it which was colored transparent red: a small indentation near the wrist had the same "BS" initials engraved there: and, where the hand would be, a large double-barreled shotgun emerged instead.

"You two handle 'em. I'll go for the mice." The centermost Navi announced with a grin.

"Roger, Sir Omega!"

Omega was about one meter and eighty tall.

His eyes' irises were blue and they displayed amusement while long blond hair came out from behind him and reached all the way to the floor.

He had a red vest over his mainly black body and red armor over his forearms and boots: two golden circlets were set around his forearms and on his boots as well.

A blue jewel shaped like an inverted triangle was set on the forehead of his helmet which was emitting a cross-shaped flash.

"Oi! Ya bunch of grunts! The butcher came!" Omega exclaimed.

He suddenly crouched and picked what looked like the upper half of a vertical hexagon set on his right hip: it extended to form a handle and a pyramid-shaped base which generated a green-colored pyramidal energy saber: Omega suddenly jumped across the air and ran on ahead to chase the Navis while Sigma and Blood Shadow got ready to face their respective opponents.

"Ho, ho, ho… Burn! Blast…!"

"Mwha, hah, hah, hah! Slow, slow and slow! Demon Sword! I'll teach ya about powerlessness!"

Sigma suddenly swung his sword in a wide arch: the impact sent Blast Man flying and he fell into the ground in a violent manner: Sigma suddenly warped to loom over him and began to use his sword to bombard the ground and inflict damage several times in row: he then used his free hand to grip Blast Man's head and he laughed.

"So?"

"Why, you…!"

"You're fired."

Sigma dropped him on the ground: Blast Man panted and tried to stand up, but collapsed on the attempt while Sigma hummed a tune as if nothing was going on.

"Smart Missile!"

"Sword Fighter X!"

Blood Shadow drew a slightly curved and dented red sword before jumping towards Dive Man and delivering six cuts which varied in orientation and length: Dive Man was unable to react before Blood Shadow placed the barrels of his shotgun on the front compartment.

"Charged shotgun shot!"

His attack detonated the mines inside of the compartment and inflicted grave damage to Dive Man: he collapsed on his fours.

"No way!" Kurohige gasped.

"Way, Capt'n."

"There he is! Freeze!"

"The cops!" Kurohige cursed.

"Drop the PET! Raise your hands! You're under arrest!"

Eight Official Navis came in and set up a cage around the defeated Navis.

"The great me's career can't end like this!"

"De a~ru! We've been captured by the enemy fleet!"

"Those guys were beaten up to an inch of their lives…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Game Over!" Sigma grinned.

"True. And there are no Continues, either." Blood Shadow added.

23:38 PM (Japan Time)…

"… What's going on with those guys? I can't contact them!"

The conspirer was pacing around the office room while looking nervous and angered.

"They were supposed to stir up a ruckus!"

"I am afraid they are not in a status to be able to stir up some petty incidents, Mr. Conspirer."

The conspirer gasped and whipped around to see a man standing on the door's threshold.

This man was on his forties and could be over a meter and ninety tall: they had an athletic build to them.

His hair was colored in a blonde color and was neatly combed although it had reminiscences of a military haircut given the edges.

He was dressed in a gray trench overcoat, a black sports suit and pants along with brown shoes.

He had sunglasses on, though.

"You? The new bodyguard? Why are you here? I didn't call for you!"

"Weren't you looking for someone?" The man calmly asked.

"You lowlife! You were the spy!"

The conspirer violently opened the desk's drawer and took his gun out: he tried to shoot but the gun didn't do anything: he took the clip out and gasped: it was empty.

"I took the freedom of emptying it yesterday evening. And one of my men is waiting behind the bookcase which conceals the secret tunnel leading to the World Fair." The man added.

"Who the hell are you lowlife?"

"Lezareno. Chief Lezareno. Security Department. CCAYC."

"The "Committee", then…!" The conspirer cursed.

"Please stop the farce, _Mayor Cain_."

"Grah!"

Mayor Cain was a man on his fifties with grayish hair and a moustache-

He wore a black suit plus a black tie and currently looked angered.

"The game is over. Those two "pets" won't wake up. And you were too arrogant and underestimated the capabilities of other Officials or Net Saviors plus other parties… You thought that because Mr. Hero was absent, you could push your own plans forward, but… We are too clever to fall for that stunt and the tale about the fake tickets was lame, too." Chief Lezareno calmly announced.

"Why, you…!" Mayor Cain hissed.

"The _Cybeasts_ are too dangerous to be toyed with and although it was a good idea to use poison to control poison, when the thing went overboard, then they quickly blamed your own grandfather and tried to make a scapegoat out of him… Well then, it could've been solved by bringing up evidence that, for that time's technology, it was impossible to fully control Falzer as it attempted to destroy Greiga."

"But only true rule over the Cybeasts would allow me to clear my grandfather's name!" Mayor Cain exclaimed.

"No – one would agree with that. We've had enough with Dr. Wily and Dr. Regal bringing us trouble during these last 11 months. Sorry, but your petty scheme ends here, Ex – Mayor."

"What did you say?" Mayor Cain formed a grimace.

"The cavalry should be about to arrive. They will take care of anything and there'll be quite a scandal, but it's inevitable. Abuse of power, hiring criminals… There's no way out of this, Ex – Mayor."

"Bothersome meddling guys!"

"My. That sounds unlikely coming from Cyber City's Ex – Mayor."

"You lowlifes…! One day… One day I'll destroy you!"

"It's not worth even trying."

"Che!"

"Ah. It'd seem the cavalry has arrived…"

The sound of several footsteps rang out: Commissioner Kifune and four policemen came into the office.

"Mayor Cain. You're under arrest given the charges of bribery, abuse of power, siding with criminals and trying to steal the two forbidden "Cybeasts"… All evidence is against you, sir. Take him away."

One policeman handcuffed Mayor Cain and he was taken out of the room as he directed a murderous glare at Chief Lezareno: he shrugged and didn't seem to care about it.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Lezareno. You provided us with more than enough evidence."

"Ah. And Mr. Zero caught them red-handed, too, so…" Chief Lezareno amusedly added.

"True. So, he got obsessed with the idea that, with Netto – kun and Rock Man being overseas, nobody would be able to stand up to his Navis?"

"Correct, sir. Obsessions lead to downfalls, as History has pointed out several times already."

"True, true. Well then… There'll be quite a scandal, but it can't be helped, after all. Nobody should try to awaken forgotten terrors. Wily tried to do that with "Proto" but we could stop him from doing so thanks to Zataki – san's help."

"Mr. Sponsor is experienced at seeing through lazily improvised covers and he placed some pressure on our Mr. Conspirer, so… He tried to rush it all and danced to our tune."

"Yo! Chief! Those guys ran off once Ms. Moon explicitly came down to tell them they were fired. Heh, heh, heh, heh!"

16:57 PM (Barcelona Time)…

"… Phew. We needed a break after walking up such a long stretch of this avenue… I normally don't mind walking, but, with this heat…"

"Be glad it isn't August: it gets worse."

"Yeah. We should really be glad of it."

Netto, Saito and Mr. Denpa were sitting in a bench in one spot of a large avenue filled with press stands and other types of stand plus several persons disguised and standing in one spot of the avenue.

"This is Les Rambles! One of our most well-known spots: they extended all the way from Catalonia Square to the Columbus Monument. As you can see, there are plenty of "human statues" which add an element of characterization to this place." Mr. Denpa explained.

"Cool…" Netto whistled in surprise.

"Cooling cooler of cools." Saito laughed.

"Oho. Not bad." A voice rang out from Netto's Link PET.

"Huh? Whoa! Omega! Been a while!"

"Omega – san?" Saito wondered.

"_San wa iranai_~, Rock Man – sama~!" Omega joked.

"Excuse me?"

"Kidding."

"So… Mr. Conspirer & co. got caught?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"Yessir. I beat those cheap "Believers" to an inch of their lives. Ms. Moon wanted me to fire 'em, so…"

"Ms. Moon… You mean the moon in _Mujura's Mask_?" Netto asked.

"Yikes." Saito muttered.

"Heh, heh, heh. Of course…"

"So, who was our Mr. Conspirer?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"I guess the press must've gotten a hold of it by now… _Check it out_, _Danna_, while I go recycle recycling recycles." Omega laughed.

"Fine."

"Well then… I'm off to come up with a new troll along Forte, so… Beware of orbiting Y – Wings."

"I'd prefer a Y – Wing to a TIE, really." Netto muttered.

"Why not an X – Wing?" Saito teased.

"Dunno. Ask Mr. Perfect." Netto shrugged.

"Oh. Then I'm gonna dig out his number." Saito announced.

"Go ahead."

"Through the backdoor." Saito added.

"What's with the backdoor?" Netto frowned.

"It's sneaky."

"Yeah. I'd heard that already." Netto looked unimpressed.

"My, my, my! Have a look, gentlemen." Mr. Denpa suddenly announced as he looked up from his iPad (which he'd taken out of a bag he carried) and smiled.

"Whoa! "Mayor Cain of Cyber City Arrested!"… He was Mr. Conspirer, then? I'd never guessed it!" Netto gasped.

"You know the motto: "the bigger, the less expected."… So…" Saito improvised with a grin.

"Yeah. I catch the point."

"Pointer pointing of points…" Saito rhymed.

"Not again…"

"Heh, heh, heh. Amusing." Omega chuckled.

"Did Chief Lezareno say something?" Mr. Denpa asked.

"He'll expedite a report in the next few days. I guess he'll sign it with a dove's feather, too, and black ink." Omega joked next.

"That's outdated!" Netto protested.

"It's elegant."

"True, true!" Saito agreed with it.

"Jeez. Ya always have to side with the pranksters?" Netto grumbled.

"I guess I've gotten used to looking at things from a humorous perspective, so…" Saito trailed off.

"Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… There'll be more details in the days to come, so… Make sure to read them with a magnifying glass. I'm off and beware of the Genome Soldiers' frozen FAMAS assault rifles."

Omega made a giggle-like sound before running off Netto's Link PET: both he and Saito frowned as if they hadn't caught the joke while Mr. Denpa was chuckling.

"Not bad… Well then… Let's keep on! We've got a lot of stuff to check out, gentlemen."

"Eh… Yeah. Let's go. We don't wanna stay all the afternoon being hit by this heat." Netto snapped out of it.

"I guess Heat Man has something to do with this." Saito giggled.

"That lighter-shaped Navi Hinoken had when he roamed around Densan Airport… I dunno what he did with him: maybe he's storing the guy and switching Navis to become hard to predict…" Netto guessed.

"Cheer up, otouto – chan! We've still got two weeks of touring and trolling ahead of us!" Saito tapped his right shoulder.

"True… But I'd be better if the trolling was excluded." Netto sighed.

Mr. Denpa merely chuckled as he stored the iPad back on the bag: Netto sighed while Saito giggled…


	9. Chapter 9: Of tales and boasts

**Chapter 9: Of tales and boasts**

21:03 PM (Barcelona Time), Friday August the 4th…

"… Ah…This ice-cream was exquisite!"

"Ice-cream Man strikes from the NNE!"

"Yeah. I know."

"Heh, heh, heh. You know it all."

"Well then, gentlemen… I believe it's the time to tell a tale."

"Ah! Please go ahead!"

"We're eager to listen to it!"

The twins and Mr. Denpa had finished their supper while sitting around the table set on the villa's terrace: Mr. Denpa called for their attention and they quickly looked towards him.

"It involves what Mayor Cain sought to do." He teased.

"Please keep on!"

"Well… Around the time of the "Proto Rebellion", another incident happened in the early Cyber World… A set of computer bugs began to gather in one spot to then undergo a fusion process and become a "Bug Fusion Body" which was named a "Cybeast"… Cybeast Greiga. It had the general shape of a fierce lion colored green plus orange-like spires set around its head… And this monster began to rampage through the Cyber World with no power being able to stand up to it…" Mr. Denpa began narrating.

"Bug Fusion Body… Just like Gospel!" Netto gasped.

"The principle is the same yet Greiga was a natural occurrence. No human hand was involved on its creation. Maybe Dr. Wily got the idea from there when trying to use "Bug Fusion" so as to recreate Forte. Anyway… One scientist suggested a risky course of action: use poison to control poison. In simple words: pit a human-made Cybeast against Greiga."

"Whoa! A human-made Cybeast against Greiga…!" Saito gasped.

"Its name was Falzer, made upon the image of a vermillion hawk. The scientist sent it to battle Greiga but their powers were largely matched so none had an advantage over the other. But then control of Falzer was lost even though its primary program remained intact: annihilate Greiga. Their clash extended and worsened the scale of the damage done. The scientist was made a scapegoat for it when it happened, but that was because they were too arrogant to admit that their idea had had this potential risk from the very beginning."

"That sounds like how Forte was blamed for Proto's malfunctions and they tried to delete him…" Netto realized.

"Alas, that's correct. They did erase that man from history. Regarding the Cybeasts, their energy was not infinite and each clash depleted more and more of it. They eventually reached a stand-still in what today is Central Town's Cyber World. The first one to move would be victorious." He made a deliberate paused.

"Please keep on!" Both pleaded.

"Both jumped at each other, and, freeing the last portion of body energy, clashed. Their clash was so mighty that a gigantic abyss was opened under their feet and they fell down it, exhausted and unable to move anymore, so the authorities quickly caught the chance: they built a new Cyber World area there which they named the "Underground" to chain and seal both Cybeasts there: having exhausted their powers, they entered a deep sleep and they continue to do nowadays. The abyss was covered with a powerful seal which the Mayor of Cyber City had the responsibility of maintaining and checking on. Two monuments in their memory were erected close by. And so, both Cybeasts keep on sleeping deep there while recharging energy. Even if they were to awaken, their energy would be low and they could be easily sealed again." Mr. Denpa concluded.

"Whoa~!" Both exclaimed.

"And, as you can grasp, Ex – Mayor Cain tried to use his position to capture both of those."

"How?"

"One of their Navis, Circus Man, was designed to store programs on a hollow spot of his body: using a memory expansion, the Cybeasts' programs could be compressed and installed upon him to then be brought elsewhere. But to awaken them, one would have to feed them a large amount of energy… That's where the "Believers" came in. They roamed around the Sky Town Cyber World entrance to the Reverse Internet and captured Net Navis to drain their HP: they stored them up to then feed them into two stone statues in honor of the Cybeasts: these were linked to the "Underground" and slowly fed up the Cybeasts. Circus Man was to toss in the last of the energy to bring them up to the surface and then capture them: Mr. Zero then intercepted him on the spot."

"Whoa. Cool." Netto whistled in surprise.

"So, Ex – Mayor Cain sought to increase his power by capturing the Cybeasts and blackmailing Network Society?"

"True. But his personal motives were the restoration of his grandfather's name: the scientist who designed Falzer."

"He could've tried another more peaceful mode, couldn't he?"

"You know these guys, Netto – kun. When they get obsessed with something, they then don't think of anything else."

"Oh. Guess so…" Netto muttered.

"By the way… What became of those fugitives?" Saito asked.

"The _Three Musketeers_ rounded them up."

"Good. Then there's nothing else to be worried about?"

"Hmmm…" Mr. Denpa trailed off.

"What's wrong?" Saito looked concerned.

"The would-be WWW Navis… They escaped the day Dr. Wily and their Operators were arrested and they've seemingly fled the country ever since then…" Mr. Denpa admitted.

"And they've been hiding ever since then? That was way back in September last year… Almost a year ago!" Netto exclaimed.

"Don't be concerned, though. They'll surely have fought each other to death by now out of mistrust and jealousy, so they should be easy to pick off…" Mr. Denpa assured them.

"Ah. Then we don't need to fret. This week's excursions into the region around this village were interesting. It was cool visiting a cava cellar and to see how they store it there… The machinery was interesting, too!" Saito switched topics.

"Yeah. And I'm sure you'd liked to have a sip of it, too, niisan." Netto teased with a grin.

"Who do you think I am, Netto – kun?" Saito questioned while looking slightly annoyed by the joke.

"Ask Mr. Wikipedia."

"I will."

"Now, now, gentlemen… Don't go too far with those jokes." Mr. Denpa warned.

"_Hai_~!"

"It was a suggestion, though."

"So! What are we gonna tackle during these remaining 7 days?" Netto asked with a grin.

"There are some other cities worth a visit, too. We'll go spend a day trekking along the "Water Road" in the Collserola Park, too."

"It's made of water?" Netto frowned.

"No… They call it like that because a water conduit used to exist there time ago. But it's a nice excursion with spectacular views to the city: you can't miss it." Mr. Denpa smiled.

"One question…" Saito brought up.

"Ask away."

"Will we visit the Sagrada Família?"

"Of course. But the interiors are still largely under construction, so it isn't really worth it… We'll check it out from the outside."

"Great!" Netto looked animated.

"I've already planned the schedule, so there's no need to be worried about where we'll be going: I'll make sure they're places which are worth a visit."

"We don't doubt that, sir." Saito calmly told him.

"Good. Then let's start cleansing up and go hit the bed."

"Roger!"

"Lead the way, Admiral." Saito joked.

"Through the backdoor?" Netto guessed.

"Yeah. Through the NNW flank." Saito replied.

"NNW? Isn't that the direction the City Hall lies at?"

"Bravo, Mr. Compass." Saito clapped.

"Oi, oi… Forte told ya another of his crazy troll jokes?" Netto sounded suspicious.

"Maybe."

"That Forte… I'd like him to try to be serious, for once."

"I'm afraid the Troll Plague is in effect." Saito shrugged.

"A Continuous Magic Card…" Mr. Denpa muttered with a smile.

"Crap." Netto muttered.

"Let's go~!"

Saito ran off laughing, Netto chased him and Mr. Denpa chuckled…

09:04 AM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 5th…

"… Guts, guts! Guts Man is the strongest, guts! Guts Man got the "A" License, guts!"

"Hah! Take that, Netto! I'll defeat you and Rock Man when ya two get back from wherever ya went off to!"

"I wonder about that…"

"Huh? Delta! Chance!"

"Chance?"

Guts Man had been walking out of the Official Square while Ooyama Dekao boasted until they met up with Delta: Dekao grinned while Delta frowned.

"I challenge ya and Hiro to a Net Battle!"

"Good enough, Gorilla Man." Hiro laughed.

"Not ya too!" Dekao growled.

"I'm in the club, yeah."

"Ya jerk!"

"I knew that, too."

"Enough! Guts Man! Go for it!"

"Guts, guts, gattsu~! Mega Guts Punch!"

"… Area Steal, Elec Sword! Double Slot In!"

"No fair!" Dekao growled.

"All's fair in a Net Battle." Hiro shrugged.

Delta warped and appeared closer to Guts Man: he swung the Elec Sword to electrocute Guts Man before shooting out a Charge Shot and jumping back at his original position.

"So?" Hiro taunted.

"Why, you…! I'm invincible!"

"Did ya know that I already passed the "SS" License?" Hiro told him.

"No way!" Dekao gasped.

"Way, Dekao. I'm just one step away from Blues, Search Man and Rock Man!" Hiro grinned at him.

"Go, Guts Man!"

"Guts Hammer! Gattsu~!"

"Program Advance! Sword, Wide, Long Sword! Slot In!"

"Dream Sword!"

Delta skipped the Guts Hammer's effects and then attacked Guts Man with the Dream Sword thus inflicting heavy damage: Guts Man tried to punch him but Delta shot a Charge Shot at him which further weakened him: Guts Man collapsed on his fours and logged out.

"And something tells me that of the "A" License is a bluff. No "A" License holder would fight so badly." Hiro announced.

"Aha-hah!" Someone exclaimed.

"Yikes! Meiru!" Dekao gasped.

Sakurai Meiru's window had opened as Roll had stepped close to them: she looked somewhat annoyed.

"Ooyama Dekao! If you're trying to impress me then give it up. Roll saw it all: you _failed_ the "A" License Exam! Boasting is bad: did ya know that or were you thinking it was a very "manly" thing to do?" She questioned with obvious annoyance.

"I d-didn't want to anger ya!" Dekao pleaded.

"That doesn't sound even half-convincing."

"True." Hikawa Tooru added as his window opened and Ice Man walked into the area.

"Tooru~! Ya saw it, too?"

"I saw it and I _have_ cleared the "A" License Exam. Isn't that right, Meiru – chan?"

"Correct! He did fight using the head and not the belly!"

"Ua~h!" Dekao uttered.

"Hah! Typical of this fatty guy who tries to play the hero: ya fail at every cheap attempt!" Ayanokouji Yaito added as Glyde dropped down into the road, too.

"As Yaito – sama said…" Glyde calmly shrugged.

"Is this the "Boycott Dekao Club" or what?" He demanded.

"Ask that brain ya have, Fat Man." Hiro grinned.

"You don't mean…" Meiru, Yaito and Tooru suddenly began.

"Huh? Ah! No, no! It's a character named like that…" Hiro quickly replied while looking slightly nervous.

"Ah. No problem, then." The other tree replied.

"I didn't catch it." Roll frowned.

"Hmmm…" Glyde seemed to be thinking.

"What, desu?" Ice Man asked.

"Oh. I see…" Delta muttered.

"What? I'm not that Pouri guy!" Dekao protested.

"_Poirot_!" Hiro corrected.

"What's a poirot, gutsu?"

"It's a person, Gorilla Man." Delta rolled his eyes.

"Anyway… Let's leave this guy to boast in vain." Yaito grinned.

"Roger."

"Let's go see the club, Delta!"

"Roger."

"I need to take care of a few errands, so… Let's go, Roll."

"O. K., Meiru – chan."

"Ice Man! Let's go check the _manga_ shop."

"Roger, desu!"

"Glyde! Make sure to order a sufficient strawberry milk restocking!"

"Roger, Yaito – sama."

"O-oi! Wait!"

"Gutsu!"

The four Navis calmly walked away from the area thus leaving Guts Man and Dekao stranded.

"Man… Why does this happen to me?"

"Dunno… gattsu…"

"Grah! I'll remember this!"

"You'll remember that the square root of 16 is 4, Ooyama?"

Forte suddenly walked towards him followed by "Gospel Jr." in a calmly manner.

"Who are ya?"

"Forgotten me or we'd never met before?"

"I'd remember a cloaked villain wannabe."

"My name's Forte… And this guy is "Gospel Jr.", to let ya know." He announced with a grin.

"Whaddya want?"

"To remind ya something…"

"What?"

"Ya aren't invincible, I ain't, Rock Man isn't and not even Serenade is. So drop that stupid motto 'cause that doesn't happen in the real world to begin with." Forte told him.

"No way!"

"Way, Ooyama. Well then… Let's go hunt down any small fry left over from the raid, "Gospel Jr."…" Forte told the beast.

"Grawl."

"Ah. And he finds Gorilla Man to be uneatable, too."

"Che!"

"Gattsu?"

"Bye and beware of the Star Destroyer orbiting around ya: it might use its turbo-lasers to make ya dance to the Admiral's pace." Forte giggled at his own joke.

"Grrr!"

He and "Gospel Jr." began to head away while Dekao growled something under his breath.

"Let's go smash Viruses! 100 in a row! Then I'll prove that I'm the strongest guy around!"

"Brilliant, Dekao – sama, gattsu!"

"Hah! Take that, you bunch of jerks! I'm a - GENIUS!"

Guts Man ran off while Dekao kept on laughing: he turned a corner and stumbled upon a gigantic Mettool which was looming over him.

"METTO~!"

"GUTSU~!"

Guts Man logged out on his own while Forte showed behind the Mettool, which turned transparent, while giggling…


	10. Chapter 10: Return

**Chapter 10: Return**

08:18 AM (Barcelona Time), Friday August the 11th…

"… Hard to believe we're already here, waiting to pick the plane to Paris, and, from there, to Densan Airport… But… It's been cool. We've seen plenty of places and we've had a totally unique tour of Barcelona."

"True, Netto – kun… And we'll have a lot to tell Papa, Mama and all of our friends, too!"

"Yeah! That's the best part: to share the experience with others!"

"Guess Enzan is still annoyed that a "rookie" was able to easily bring down one of those Navis… He'll be spending days and weeks in the Reverse Internet's lowest levels trying to sharpen his sword."

"Heh, heh, heh. Knowing Enzan…"

"I'm glad to see you enjoyed my little idea, gentlemen."

"How couldn't we, Denpa – san?"

"THIS is a real vacation!"

"Thank you. I got inspired by the fact that my family and I used to travel somewhere during the month of August… So, going by that idea…"

"Where have you traveled to, if we may ask?"

"Switzerland, Argentina, Ameroupe, Scotland, Euskadi…"

"Whoa. Cool."

The twins and Mr. Denpa were sitting in chairs inside of the departures hall: they were waiting next to the embarking door and they had a clear view of the planes parked or taxiing on the outside.

"Thank you, gentlemen. I do hope you start your 1st year in middle school in a satisfactory manner."

"Whoa. I'd forgotten! Middle school… It'll be a challenge!"

"Sure thing…" Saito looked amused.

"Oi, oi. What are ya up today?"

"Dunno. Ask Dr. Who."

"Don't you mean Dr. Watson? Watson was a medic, right?"

"No, no. Watson isn't involved, otouto – chan."

"Will you stop with that thing?"

"Stop collecting bottle caps, you mean?"

"Ya don't collect bottle caps."

"It's a joke."

"Or, rather, an irony?"

"Guess that'd be a more fitting word."

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but… We should start boarding." Mr. Denpa interrupted them.

"Let's go!" Netto grinned.

"Let's board the foul ship."

"Oi, oi… That sounded mean." Netto told him.

"Sorry. Then let's board the magical ship."

"That sounds better."

"So, you're Sound Man today."

"Sound Man…?" Netto sighed and rolled his eyes.

Saito merely giggled while Mr. Denpa looked amused: they headed inside of the plane and sat down on their seats with Netto taking the window, Saito the middle seat and Mr. Denpa the leftmost one.

"O. K.! Let's make sure to bide Barcelona farewell from the sky!"

"Deal!"

Mr. Denpa smiled and looked animated…

15:33 PM (Japan Time)…

"… Yo! Guys! What's up?"

"Look, Cloud! Delta – dono came!"

"Oh! Delta – dono! Welcome!"

"Delta – dono came to check on us."

"Welcome back, Master."

"Eh… I thought we'd agreed that I'm no longer your boss?"

"Even so..."

"Delta – dono was…"

"The person who…"

"Led us in the past, so…"

"Alright. I see you guys' point… So? Have you done anything cool?"

"Yeah. We clashed against the would-be WWW Navis."

"Whoa! Where did you find them?"

"Alaska! I had a caprice, so I went there to ski and the others followed me because they thought something had happened to me. We accidentally stumbled upon them when we tried to take part in a hockey game. They were cheating, so we gave them a lesson on fair play. The authorities then saw through their disguises and almost caught them but they'd placed a bomb on the stadium!"

"Cool!"

"That sounds like a pre-thought runaway strategy."

"Oh. Akashi – dono came, too."

"Please… Call me Hiro and we're at peace."

"But you were the one who found Delta – dono and thanks to your combined efforts, we banded together again, so…"

Delta had entered a large storehouse-like building and was speaking with four Net Navis standing in a row.

The leftmost Navi didn't seem to be much taller than a meter and fifty.

His eyes' irises were red as well and he had two red ear pads: a ski cap was being worn atop his head and it had a blue band slightly above the forehead: the rest of it was colored orange and some loose cotton could be seen atop his head.

His shoulders were colored sea blue and his forearms had an orange rim at their start: his hands were covered in the classical white "skin" as well and held two ski sticks with an orange handle.

His upper body was colored orange until slightly beneath the chest emblem: there it formed a pattern reminiscent of the Alphabet letter "M" and colored sea blue: his lower body was colored white.

His chest emblem had a red rim and the drawing a white-colored snowman's silhouette without nose, mouth or eyes.

The rest of the emblem was colored black and so were his arms and legs.

His main body was round and both his arms and legs were short: he had green skies attached to his blue ski boots' soils.

"I, Blizzard Man, tend to get into messes!"

"True!" The Navi at his right added.

The second Navi's lower body was a grayish cloud and he had no legs: his upper body had a mix of magenta and orange coloring.

Lastly, his head had an orange helmet with the Alphabet letter "U" set on its forehead plus a spike having a small gray cloud over it: the helmet created a shade-like effect around his eyes, the irises of which were blood red as well: the rest of his face was gray in color.

His shoulders and forearms were colored orange while the skin was black in coloring.

A magenta ring was set slightly above each wrist, too.

Two small wing-like objects with three indentations on it and colored white emerged from the sides of his shoulders.

An arrow-like object was set over the hand and the forearms: its border was colored white.

His torso had three white stripes below the chest which only occupied about the center section of it: his emblem was set slightly beneath them and it depicted a single cloud set against a blackish background and having a white rim.

He had an open vest-like drawing over the sides of his torso which began above the shoulders and reached past the lower torso where his emblem was at: the vest's border was colored in a goldenrod color.

Each side also had a cloud-shaped drawing slightly above where the three stripes began at: two button-like drawings were set between his neck opening and the stripes.

"Cloud Man – sama is always having to after this grunt and show him not to get into a mess!" He announced.

"You two are like water and fire." The third Navi smiled.

"We knew that tune ya have, Cosmo Man!"

"True! It doesn't impress the great me anymore."

This third Net Navi looked close to two meters tall and his design was heavily customized.

Cosmo Man's eyes were simply black and surrounded by skin while his nose and mouth were covered by a thin layer of golden armor.

Four lines converged on the forehead where a small diamond was set: the head's upper portion was exposed and it had the typical black "skin".

Most of his upper torso was encompassed by golden-colored armor which also covered the shoulders: it ended around the chest where the emblem was set at: it was a simple four-pointed blue star drawn against a black background.

The design of the armor included two thick white lines emerging NW and NE from his emblem and curving as they ran parallel to the neck and past the shoulders.

Another two thin blue lines formed from the east and west sides of the emblem and climbed upwards: thus diving the armor into two uneven portions: the lower one was short in length while the upper one was larger.

The armor also covered both sides of the neck and continued above the head where it expanded into two ear-like extensions having blue round dome-like pads.

The arms had a blue ring around the elbow and each ring was complemented by fin-shaped extensions aiming upwards towards the shoulders.

A pale blue transparent ring was also set atop each wrist and the wrists had blue armor covering them: the fingers were also covered by the golden armor.

The plain black-skinned feet (the fingers of which couldn't be seen) had blue armor on their ankles as well and a golden-colored diamond-like object set slightly above the ankle: this object had a blue-colored triangle-like pattern aiming upwards set slightly above of where they began at.

Two thick white lines extended from above the end of those diamonds and travelled towards the lower torso area until they met an oval-shaped object with a brown edge and metallic interior: two small rectangles were drawn on the north and south edges, too.

Another two thick lines came out from the NW and NE edges and met the chest emblem by connecting the SW and SE edges, too.

Lastly, a large blue transparent ring was set around his body in a 45º angle and aiming to the SE from around the same height as the right shoulder until the left forearm.

"I am not equipped with higher processing power in vain." He calmly announced.

"Now, now… Let's not make a scene in front of Delta – dono!" The fourth Navi rallied.

"Not like I intended to, Red!"

"Red _Sword_!" Cloud Man corrected.

"We aren't going to quarrel over that again, I hope!" Cosmo Man looked slightly annoyed at their behavior.

"Of course not!" Both replied.

"You're not really proving it."

"Che!"

"Those two…"

Red Sword had a wild flock of silver hair which came out from behind the helmet and covered all of his body's back.

His helmet's main color was blood red as well, yet the inner edges surrounding his thick red shades had a tint of purple to them: a purple band formed on the forehead and circled the whole diameter of it: two valley-shaped cavities had been inserted into the sides of it and they ended in golden circles: a "fin" sprouted from the top of the helmet thus giving it a menacing-like look.

His main "skin" color was black, yet his upper torso had red blood armor built over it: there were two black shapes drawn over the shoulders having a golden rim and a thin black line spread from the base of the neck to the lower edge of the armor.

An emblem with a black edge was set on the chest: it consisted of white and black halves split by a thunderbolt-shaped line: white was golden and silver was right.

The forearms were colored blood red and had two purple-colored parallel formations which originated at the sides of the emblem atop each hand's palm: they spread over the edge of the forearm while forming a pyramid-like shape.

His right forearm currently held a purple-colored Long Sword with a customized hilt.

The central body of the forearm was now colored metallic gray and had two purple circles colored yellow inside: a purplish-colored blade emerged around a cone-shaped purple-colored formation: the blade looked sharp and menacing for some reason or another.

His boots began slightly below the knee and had purple-colored diamond-like shapes which extended as high as the knee: they were colored blood red as well: the soils were colored purple, too.

Overall, he looked like a revamped Blues including his dry face which he put on when nothing impressed him.

"I know, Red… They're antithesis." Delta shrugged.

"Anyway! The "Hunters' Guild" has gained acceptance from the Reverse Internet Ranked Navis and we're slowly being asked favors out of them, so… We've made good progress." Red Sword grinned.

"HORRAY!"

"Calling on a _ninja_." A voice rang out.

"Whoa! Is that…?" Hiro gasped.

Shadow Man suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, to everyone's surprise.

"Shadow Man?"

"I heard the "Hunters' Guild" lived here… Just one thing: we'll soon see who gets first at their prey." He announced.

"While we are collaborators of the Net Police by now… I think that we should try to not to bring down our reputation." Dark Miyabi calmly added in a dull tone.

"Uh… Go ahead." Everyone nervously muttered.

"Perfect, then. _Sayounara_." Shadow Man sounded slightly amused.

09:03 AM (Japan Time), Saturday August the 12th…

"… Phew! Waiting to disembark, going through passport control and having to wait to pick your luggage is something."

"That's how airports work like, Netto – kun."

"I knew that."

"Heh, heh, heh. You knew that Orbit Man is orbiting around ya."

"Gentlemen… I believe we have a welcome committee."

"Huh? Whoa! Guys!"

"Everyone!"

"Welcome~!"

The twins had been talking amongst them when Mr. Denpa called for their attention as they stepped into the airport's main lobby: Meiru, Hiro, Tooru, Dekao, Yaito, Haruka and Yuuichirou were gathered there.

"Whoa! You came to welcome us?" Netto asked.

"Obviously!" Hiro grinned at them.

"You're our best friends, after all!" Meiru added.

"How couldn't we?" Tooru smiled.

"I wanna keep our friendship active, ya know!" Yaito giggled.

"I'm so gonna beat you up!" Dekao grinned.

"Somehow, I find that hard to believe, Dekao – kun." Haruka told him.

"No way!" He gasped.

"This is reality, Dekao – kun." Yuuichirou added.

"Man." Dekao sighed.

"You're the same as always, eh, Dekao?" Netto joked.

"Heh, heh, heh. No wonder!" Saito giggled.

"Yo! Saito – kun! Welcome back!" Roll called out.

"Guts, guts!"

"Welcome back, gentlemen." Glyde greeted.

"We missed ya two!" Delta admitted.

"Welcome, desu!" Ice Man giggled.

"Papa! Mama! We're back!"

"Welcome back. Did you enjoy the experience?" Yuuichirou asked.

"Totally!" Both replied.

"That's the good part of it." Haruka giggled.

"Well then… I leave you in their company, gentlemen. I shall be heading back to my apartment, too. We will meet soon enough, I'd rather believe, gentlemen." Mr. Denpa announced.

"Thanks for everything, Denpa – san!"

"There is no need, gentlemen. Good-bye."

Mr. Denpa calmly walked out after he bowed to the twins' parents: the twins smiled and then began to chat with the group.

"Ya gotta be jealous I stole the spotlight." Hiro joked.

"Not really. Enzan must be jealous of you."

"Totally. I saw him yesterday and he directed a glare which said "I'm gonna go and do it a thousand times better next", so…"

"Blues didn't offer his opinion given his closed and stiff character."

"Hah! I'll beat them up!" Dekao exclaimed.

"Guts, gattsu!"

"Oh? And there you ran from a gigantic Mettool?" Meiru grinned.

"I saw it, too." Roll added.

"That was Guts Man!" Dekao protested.

"Guts Man was scared, guts…"

"No wonder!" Yaito grinned.

"Yaito – sama…" Glyde sighed.

"If that was a test of "courage", then you got a 0 on it." Tooru added with a broad smile.

"True, desu!"

"Forte set it up…" Hiro whispered to them.

"… 'Cause Dekao claimed he'd defeat 100 Viruses in a row…" Delta added in a conspiracy tone.

"He didn't even get past the 1st one…!" Netto was barely holding his laughter back at this point.

"Because it was scarier than Ms. Moon…" Saito giggled.

"O. K, everyone. Let's go." Yuuichirou called out.

"We're going to have a little welcome party." Haruka announced.

"At MY mansion!" Yaito promptly announced.

"Cool!" Both grinned.

"Tooru – kun! Come over here and don't try to sneak off." Meiru called out in a commanding tone.

"Roger, Sakurai – san…" Tooru sighed in defeat.

"Heh! Make sure to exert enough pressure, Meiru – chan!" Yaito told her with a grin.

"Count on it, Yaito – chan." Meiru confirmed with a sinister smile.

"So! Let's go!" Yaito rallied.

Everyone began to head out while they chatted amongst them in an animated manner…

20:34 PM (Japan Time)…

"… So, niisan… What do you think about this vacation?"

"Spectacular. It's been like a birthday gift to me, as Hikari Saito…"

"Oh. True!"

"And I'm sure that a lot of excitement will kick off in September, too. We'll be ready for it!"

Netto and Saito had changed into their pajamas and were standing in their house's balcony while looking towards the sunset.

"We'll surely get used quickly to the new routine." Netto suggested.

"Yeah. And I'll be pulling your ears if you don't do your homework correctly, otouto – chan." Saito teased.

"Not that again…!" Netto sounded exasperated.

"Heh, heh, heh. Anyway… We should hit the sack soon."

"And don't try pillow war on me." Netto warned with a grin.

"I know, Netto – kun." Saito showed him his hands' palms.

"Good. We've got a month to tell the guys about our vacation and to polish our Net Battling skills." Netto looked animated.

"By using a vacuum cleaner to remove the dust?" Saito joked.

"Very funny." Netto looked skeptical.

"Very original."

"Well then… Good night."

"Good night, Netto – kun."

Netto stepped inside, followed by Saito, who shut the balcony door, and they then climbed into their beds: they grinned at each other before falling asleep…

**THE END**


End file.
